According to Webda, Deputy Minister for Nursing announced the establishment of 1,000 home care centers throughout Iran.

“1,000 home care centers have been founded so far, and another 1,600 are required to meet the standards (one home care center per 50,000 population),” said Mr. Mirzabeygi at the joint meeting of Zone 9 of Universities and Schools of Medical Sciences held in Mashhad with a focus on community-oriented nursing and home and hospice nursing services.

He noted, “Given the high prevalence of chronic diseases in our country and the high costs of hospitalization, it is not possible to keep these patients in hospitals. So, according to the available capacity and considering their effectiveness in reducing costs for people, patients and the health system in case of the chronic or elderly patients and those with incurable or refractory diseases, such centers can establish and run hospice centers in addition to offering home nursing services.”

He said that duty descriptions for hospice centers and checklists for monitoring and control will be notified for implementation in the coming months, and asked for full cooperation of colleagues in Nursing Coordination Councils of universities regarding professional quality supervision over these centers.

Mr. Taghian, technical director of a nursing home care and counseling center then gave some notes about the difficulties of caring incurable and end stage patients in hospitals and said, “The goal of hospice centers is tending such patients, giving priority to providing a quiet and peaceful environment, reducing the suffering of patients, and preserving their dignity according to physical, emotional and religious needs.”

Representatives of other nursing home care and counseling centers also expressed their views and explained problems of their profession at the meeting.