BUSINESS
AGEL Makes Patients Feel at Home
High quality healthcare, as well as a welcoming environment where patients can feel at home,
is the motto that Vítkovice Hospital (part of the AGEL group) followed during its structural remodeling
over the course of the past year. Its goal was to separate aftercare, puerperal care, surgery and
rehabilitation.
The “retro-room,” decorated with furniture from the 60s
and 70s, is guaranteed to take patients and visitors back
in time, and it has already generated quite an interest. This
room was mainly created to house aftercare patients. The
room is fitted with a retro style couch, armchairs, a large
table with eight chairs and a small library with books and
magazines. The 4x8m room is a place in which seniors
can socialize, spend free time, meet visitors or rehabilitate.
A Place Full of Memories
All the furniture in the room was donated by volunteers.
“We published a Facebook post on the hospital’s page
concerning our intention of creating a retro-room, and
we immediately got responses from people wanting
to donate furniture. Thanks to these donations, we were
able to open the room for patients as early as a year ago,”
said Lenka Holubová, a station nurse in the aftercare ward.
The room is having a positive effect on seniors and their
memory. In the historical environment, they recall many
Nový „Retropokoj“ na oddělení následné péče Vítkovické nemocnice
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seemingly forgotten memories, and can better practise
brain functions. “During their stay, patients recall many
different memories from childhood, they can go back
in time to when they were spending most of their time
with their parents and grandparents,” Holubová added.
The retro room is also used by workers in rehabilitation
who practise various cognitive functions with patients,
working on memory skills or recognizing objects,
or playing diverse educational games. At the same time,
there are also numerous art workshops and recently
they have added music therapy. “Many women from
the ADRA volunteering organisation often stop by
the room as well. They talk to the patients, play board
games with them and even work with them to produce
gift items as part of work therapy,” Holubová explained.
Fiction and historical novels are in high demand in
the rooms library, along with the AGEL magazine
and other publications from the past, such as Květy
or Vlasta.