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.