Responding to vulnerable populations: Asia region's responses to the presidential call to action

Abstract

<p>Session presented on: Monday, November 18, 2013:</p> <p>This symposium presents three different projects organized by nurse leaders from two different chapters, Pi Iota (Hong Kong) and Tau Nu (Japan). The following vulnerable populations have been targeted: 1) cancer survivors and their families in Hong Kong, 2) orphaned children in Mongolia, and 3) nurses in Japan. Each project is a demonstration of how nurse leaders have responded to the Presidential Call to Action in their own way. The program for cancer survivors and their families is a specially developed program delivered by nurse experts in cancer care. The aim of this project is to help 50 patients and family caregivers to cope with compassion fatigue and uncertainties in life. The second project involves raising the funds to purchase an apartment so that orphans who reach the age of 18 and leave the orphanage to go to college in Ulaanbaatar (capital city of Mongolia) have a place to stay. Third, the Tau Nu nurse leaders adopt strategies to reach out to their members and helped them to become better linked with international nurse leaders. In realizing the mission of STTI, not only do the nurse leaders themselves need to be committed to their goals, but they also need to (i) engage other members in the project to create a larger pool of resources; (ii) collaborate with different parties to drive the project forward; (iii) persevere in order to sustain progress; (iv) be sensitive to the needs of the target populations; and (v) take empowerment of the target populations as one of the key outcomes in their projects. This symposium will share the merits and associated problems of these projects.</p>