What We Do
Our dedication to the well-being of our customers extends to The Medicover Foundation, our charitable division.
The Fund's mission is to assist initiatives within our communities in improving the quality of healthcare planning and delivery. We focus on the prevention and early detection of illness, and we welcome and encourage innovative ideas and solutions. We are committed to improving healthcare in our communities, and we pledge financial and human resources to help create programs promising an impact.
The Medicover Foundation is the only charitable organisation of its kind in the region.
How We Do It
This coming year The Medicover Foundation will concentrate on the field of "Musculoskeletal Disorders" (MSD). There are several reasons behind this:
- MSD is a very common problem: research conducted by the EU revealed that 58% of all workers are exposed to repetitive movements, 45% to strenuous working postures, 34% to lifting/moving heavy loads, and 30% to musculoskeletal disorders. 33% of the working population in any job category suffers from back pain, and 23% from muscular pain in neck and shoulders;
- Only 1 out of 10 low back pain diagnoses is organic (i.e., disc hernia or similar), the rest is psychosomatic, mainly because of negative stress and emotional conditions. Only 1-2 out of 10 verified organic cases ends with surgery and even many of those cases could have been prevented with the right muscular exercise, stretching and life style;
- The phenomenon represents a great financial burden on society, on the healthcare system, and on employers and employees if it is wrongly assessed and treated. In EU 30-40% of all sick-leaves are due to MSDs.
In practice, we look for projects that meet the following criteria:
- addresses a local need
- produces measurable results
- has the potential to catalyse momentum, scale and sustainability
- collaborates with government, private sector and not-for-profit partners
- favours preventive approaches to healthcare
- leverages support from other sources
- advances the objectives of Medicover Foundation, and accelerates the work it is already supporting
We encourage the submission of project and program proposals from a variety of sources:
- Medicover Members and staff
- community residents
- local government and regulatory agencies
- and others working with or connected to healthcare in the region
Please see the Project Summary Form for complete instructions.
In addition to the launch of 4 projects on the MSD theme during 2009, some recent projects have included:
- "Safe Company" competition (Poland), an annual event where teams of Medicover Members compete in a first aid challenge
- Collaboration with Project HOPE in Romania to improve hygeine in health care facilities for children
- "Sweden for Children" project in Czech republic is a campaign to inform parents on how best to prevent accidents in their homes and how to proceed in case of an emergancy
- Cardiovascular Screening (Hungary) where Medicover Mobile Units travel to remote and/or high risk areas to provide screenings and examinations
- Nurses Conference (Poland)
- Physicians Conference (Poland)