Marius Ciurlionis has worked at the Ministry of Health since 2019. He an advisor on long-term care implementation and coordination. He has spent the last two years working on COVID-19. Early in the pandemic, he provided statistical information and later moved onto organizing courses to teach preventive measures in nursing homes to prevent outbreaks.

In 2020, Marius was asked to lead a medical aid mission to support the Armenian healthcare sector during the COVID-19 crisis. Experts, physicians, and nurses spent two weeks helping the local healthcare system to fight pandemic challenges. In 2021, he returned to his initial work with long-term care implementation in Lithuania. In the spring of 2022, the war started, and Lithuania decided to organize another humanitarian mission to help Ukrainian healthcare professionals. Marius was assigned to the task. He recently worked on a long-term care bill in Lithuania with hopes to bring the new law to parliament in the spring of 2023. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: Providing Nursing Care at Home in Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Ukraine

Home care provision in Ukraine is sparse or non-existent. Due to the war, many people are stranded in their apartments, cellars, and bomb shelters, creating extremely limited access to health care services. Therefore, enabling homecare provision in a small municipality in Ukraine could address the actual needs of home-based services for the elderly and persons with disabilities. The main project goal was to enable nurses to provide home care for those in need who cannot travel to healthcare institutions.

Mohyliv-Podilskyi is a small town on the Ukrainian – Moldovan border where thousands of people cross to Moldova. Many of them require medical care and seek help in local healthcare institutions. For this reason, healthcare services might be limited to locals, especially for the elderly. To maintain healthcare provision, the overall idea was to present the homecare concept to the region's local municipal authorities and healthcare managers. In addition, two nurses were taught the basics of homecare provision for the elderly, for people with disabilities and those who are in health care need. The visiting nurses have since returned to Ukraine, equipped with their new skills and having fostered connections with Lithuanian nurses and hospitals.

"We immediately felt closeness and empathy. It was such a pleasure to work together." - Lithuanian Nurse

IVLP Exchange Experience

Marius was a participant in the IVLP Project Global Public Health Challenges, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education.

Marius' exchange experience led to the development of his IVLP Impact Award Project: "Being a part of the IVLP program allowed me to grow professionally. Participating in this project was a unique experience that brought motivation, confidence, and trust to many people's lives. And I hope it will also provide changes in healthcare provision in Ukraine."

U.S. Communities Visited Virtually 

Phoenix, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; Washington, DC

Country: Lithuania

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