Nurse Ilze Niedola stands as the sole finalist from the region among ten contenders in a social business competition, offering a mobile and ambulatory wound care service designed for Liepāja and the South Kurzeme municipality, liepajniekiem.lv reported.
Barriers to Clinical Care for Vulnerable Patients
For seniors, residents with mobility challenges, and patients managing chronic conditions, reaching a medical facility for routine wound care and dressing changes often presents a severe hurdle.
Delays in receiving timely clinical help can prolong healing times and diminish a patient’s overall quality of life.
Direct Assistance and Home-Based Treatment Scope
To bridge this gap, Niedola’s initiative focuses on delivering professional clinical assistance both inside a dedicated treatment room and directly within patients’ homes.
The proposed service scope covers postoperative dressing changes, chronic and hard-to-heal wound management, suture removal, ongoing wound status evaluations, and patient or caregiver education regarding proper home care techniques.
Clinical Experience Behind the Social Enterprise
The concept stems from Niedola’s extensive professional background as a registered nurse and the daily clinical demand she observed for accessible localized healthcare among vulnerable populations.
She now vies alongside nine other entities for a financial boost to scale her social enterprise.
Finalists Competing Across Latvia
Alongside Niedola, the final round features the “Apeirons” disability union, the enterprise “Body&Mind”, the initiative “Rādi un saki”, social enterprises “STEM lab”, “Tavi draugi”, and “Roboskola”, the “Torņakalna fonds” foundation, the “Skaidra lieta” foundation, and the company “SILMACHY”.
Grants Decided by Public Vote and Panel
The competition winner will be decided through two distinct avenues. An online public vote will determine one recipient of a €4,000 grant to develop their social business concept, while an independent judging panel will select the second €4,000 award recipient.
The competition livestream and online voting portal open between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM on the official Facebook page of the Latvian Social Entrepreneurship Association.
