Professor John Rizzo Naudi was a giant in the evolvement of health sciences. He achieved this in a number of ways – as an excellent teacher, a leader in social policy, a healer, an advocate for those in need, an eternal optimist shedding hope and possibility, as a doer by nursing the capability of acquiring information, upgrading it to knowledge and delivering wisdom.
Throughout the many projects I had the privilege of participating in, Rizzo Naudi became a treasured friend and a source of wisdom to me. He inspired me and many healthcare professionals and health educators by paving a path to well-being for us to develop.
Reflections on Rizzo Naudi’s life provides a roadmap to creative thinking and more so in courageous decision-making. He was successful at a time when many a conservative view, expressed at his time, shadowed his glimpses for opportunity. Yet Rizzo Naudi’s visionary optimism shed a light of hope to all those who were enticed to join the health sector, especially youths, and extended his work towards the well-being of the elderly.
His outward mindset, seeing beyond oneself, was exemplified by his lifetime achievements. His actions in changing life and transforming systems in a real-world scenario circled around making a big difference in the lives of people. Rizzo Naudi led an exemplary professional practice throughout his work as a medical practitioner and as a missionary in developing countries.
Education to all health professions featured through the establishment of the Institute of Healthcare at the University of Malta, the forerunner of the Faculty of Health Sciences. Healthcare professionals were provided with an opportunity of following a tertiary level education, at Bachelor, Master and Doctoral studies. The areas involved all health professions, including nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, podologists, communication therapists, radiographers, medical laboratory scientists and health managers.
His legacy in the area of older persons was demonstrated in the establishment of the Zammit Clapp Rehabilitation Hospital, later transferred to Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital, where an interprofessional practice was introduced. Other services, such as Meals on Wheels, telecare and home help were founded, laying the necessary background for future developments.
Rizzo Naudi was not a representative of the status quo. He was an icon who had the courage to see the possibility of the new, the better, the future and refused to be a captive of the easy and the conservative. Some may have been at odds with the philosophy of change and sometimes he may have suffered personally and professionally, in silence, for embracing change that others saw as too much, too early, too strange and too dangerous. However, today we are witnessing that his vision is being embraced through advances in organisations, practices, education, regulation and wise leadership.
Rizzo Naudi was a hero whose legacy is being expanded by those who today are exploring new opportunities and responsibilities into the future in a positive scenario where we are not only contemplating ways how to provide a comfortable extended life to the elderly but moving forward to advance and practise the newer concepts of active ageing.