MAI DA SOLI (NEVER ALONE) is the name of a project specifically dedicated to mesothelioma patients and initiated by the Alessandria section of LILT (Italian League for the Fight Against Cancer), together with ASL AL and Azienda Ospedaliera (Hospital) Santi Antonio and Biagio and Cesare Arrigo, with support from the Buzzi Unicem Foundation.
The collaboration was endorsed by a memorandum of understanding that defines the timelines, means and functions that will be offered to patients suffering from this serious disease, and which are not meant so much as an answer but rather a point of reference for aspects involved in the various stages of the diagnosis, treatment and assistance and also to provide administrative and bureaucratic information.
The implementation phase of the website www.meso.ospedale.al.it was initiated on 4 July 2011. The website will serve as an online resource for patients and families and contain information and services, including the preliminary stages of the disease.
“MAI DA SOLI” is an acronym that encapsulates everything that the service offers to patients:
M: Mesothelioma, the project is focused on mesothelioma patients
A: (from Italian accogliere = to welcome) Welcoming patients suspected of or diagnosed with mesothelioma at any stage of the disease
I: Informing patients and family members about the disease, methods of diagnosis, treatment options, ongoing clinical trials, and professional services available
D: (from Italian conDivivere = to share) Sharing the case in a multidisciplinary setting with various specialists for the course of treatment
A: Assisting patients and family members so that the patients always have a source of information
SO: (from Italian SOllevare = to relieve) Relieving patients and family members from fulfilling all the administrative tasks involved in healthcare
LI: (from Italian faciLItare = to help) Helping patients and family members reserve the highly specialized services offered within the PDTA and which are not available in the hospital, and make “second opinion” appointments.
The project has also placed an administrative person at the service of patients to ease the burden of fulfilling the administrative procedures at the hospitals in Alessandria and Casale, as well as a doctor who can be contacted at the following email address: info@meso.ospedale.al.it.