Utrecht, 4 April 2023 - "The social climate has broken down so much. I wonder if it's ever going to come back. And I don't think our work will become redundant any time soon. Indeed, we will only get busier." Rotterdam resident and street doctor Michelle van Tongerloo guides hundreds of vulnerable citizens through the indifferent care maze: homeless people, undocumented migrants, people with psychiatric problems, addicts and migrant workers. On 11 May, she will tell how she and inspired colleagues solve distressing situations at the Planetree Netherlands Foundation's Human-centred Care Conference 2023 in Royal Jaarbeurs.
Van Tongerloos LinkedIn posts attract attention and provoke surprise. Take her story about a girl with pain in her arm after a fall at school. The advice from school: see a GP. But she has no GP. The mother knocks on the door of two GP practices where she is rebuffed. The girl comes with her mother to St Paul's Church, where she does get the care she needs. Her arm turns out to be broken.
From homeless people to migrant workers
Upon joining St Paul's Church in 2017, Van Tongerloo sees mostly undocumented people. "It is now about more and more different people. Think homeless people, people with psychiatric problems, addicts and labour migrants. In particular, the group of labour migrants from EU countries who end up on the streets is growing rapidly. But more and more Rotterdammers also know how to find Paulus Church. Other solutions are needed for all these groups."
Hospital is complex network
"Hospitals are very complex networks. Regulations are often known to the management and that is where the information leaflets come in. But how do you make that knowledge permeate everywhere in the organisation? When you call someone, you always speak to someone else. In Rotterdam, we do our best to network. And in doing so, reach the care providers on the shop floor."
During Planetree's Man-centred Care Conference 2023, with the theme 'Imagine...', participants will be fully inspired with new insights and practical examples, which will set them in motion and encourage them to look at care in a new way.
Read the whole article Michelle van Tongerloo continues to amaze
Michelle van Tongerloo is keynote speaker at Planetree Netherlands' People-centred Care Conference 2023 on 11 May at the Beatrix Theatre of Royal Jaarbeurs in Utrecht.
Kees Klomp, enthusiastic advocate of the meaning economy, delivers a keynote on socially meaningful entrepreneurship in healthcare.
