The Kėdainiai Primary Health Care Center is implementing the project “Strengthening Low-Threshold Services in the Municipalities of Kėdainiai and Raseiniai”
The Kėdainiai Primary Health Care Center is implementing the project “Strengthening Low-Threshold Services in the Municipalities of Kėdainiai and Raseiniai,” funded by the National Center for Addiction Treatment (RPLC).
The aim of the project is to ensure the provision of high-quality, low-threshold services in the Kėdainiai region, to increase their accessibility and coverage, to enhance the qualifications of staff providing these services, to assess the need for such services, and to increase the dissemination of information within the community.
The project enables service users who are not yet ready to stop using narcotic or psychotropic substances for non-medical purposes to access inpatient and/or mobile low-threshold services. The services provided include:
- the exchange and distribution of needles and syringes;
- conducting rapid screening tests;
- distribution of preventive measures for sexually transmitted diseases;
- prevention of overdoses of narcotic and psychotropic substances;
- providing information about treatment options for opioid dependence;
- individual and group counseling, etc.
As part of the project, significant attention is given to community-based testing campaigns.During these campaigns, healthcare professionals Lina Dubauskienė and Danutė Šilkaitienė, who provide low-threshold services, visit various community locations, and invite people in at-risk groups as well as staff to take free and confidential rapid self-tests for HIV and other infectious diseases. These campaigns help detect potential infections early and provide an opportunity to receive counseling and information about further assistance and treatment options.
Initiatives are also organized to distribute food packages to people in at-risk groups. Social workers Tomas and Ingrida Samuoliai, who provide mobile, low-threshold services, note that these measures encourage people to participate more actively in health screenings and take better care of their health. During these campaigns, information is provided on safer behaviors and addiction treatment options, and preventive measures are distributed.
Such activities contribute to the prevention of infectious diseases, the promotion of public health, and greater access to assistance for those who truly need it.
