According to the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, around 900,000 people in France suffer from Alzheimer's disease. As you know, this pathology results in memory disorders and a decline in cognitive faculties, often associated with psychological and behavioural disorders, which justify specific treatment that often signals entry into EHPAD. As a reminder:
The aim of the 2008-2012 Alzheimer's plan was to improve the management of the disease and to meet the needs and expectations of families affected by this pathology, in particular by developing a personalised care pathway.
The 2014-2019 plan has been extended to cover all neurodegenerative diseases, following 3 successive plans exclusively dedicated to Alzheimer's disease. It is based on three main priorities: improving diagnosis and care for people suffering from the disease, ensuring the quality of life of patients and their caretakers, and developing and coordinating research.
At the heart of this challenge is the care of the elderly and support, adapted to these diseases, for their families. The institution has therefore put in place 3 types of measures to take on this mission:
The creation of 2 protected units with a respective capacity of 24 beds ("Courtesy" Unit) and 18 beds ("Empathy" Unit). The entire layout is designed to be soothing, thanks to the distribution of rooms around a common area that allows residents to share meals and group activities. In these units, which are closed by a digicode, everything is designed to give residents free rein for wandering around while protecting people from any incident. Admission to these units is based either upon the resident's entry on the basis of a diagnosis already made, or as part of his or her stay at the EHPAD, when the change in his or her condition justifies it.
Residents are welcomed during the day in a "Pôle d'Activités et de Soins Adaptés" (PASA). This area is dedicated to individual or group activities, developed by specialised professionals, under the responsibility of the coordinating doctor. There are, for example, memory stimulation workshops, art therapy (drawing, painting), cooking workshops or physical activities, and soon, the PASA will offer gardening activities.
The aim is to offer residents a reassuring, comfortable, and stimulating place to live in a warm atmosphere. They benefit from specific support adapted to their needs. Families and relatives are involved in this care.
Training for the staff of these facilities is the Montessori method, which has been adapted for elderly people suffering from Alzheimer's and, more generally, cognitive disorders. This approach focuses on the preserved capacities of the affected person and not on the deficits of the disease. The aim is to encourage as much autonomy as possible, to help people to maintain - or regain - their everyday gestures, to develop solutions to overcome losses and to maintain good self-esteem. The advantage of this system, in EHPADs, is the reduction of medication, the improvement of the relationship between care providers, residents and families, and the development of a culture of caring for the people concerned.
An original and innovative project is also under study: "Travel therapy":
This is a non-drug therapeutic method devised in Italy. The principle is simple: it simulates a train journey for residents suffering from Alzheimer's type diseases. This simulation, via a fully equipped wagon, allows people to bring out their memories of travel. The aim is to re-engage a dialogue with them and between them and their loved ones, to stimulate their cognitive functions and to soothe them. The various experiments show that these "journeys" reduce wandering and the risk of falling.
The system has been designed to accommodate up to 4 people, including a caretaker. This project will soon be the subject of a call for donations via the HelloAsso platform.
Located in the town of Clapiers, France, the adventist run retirement home Le Foyer du Romarin is a non-profit EHPAD (establishment for dependent elderly people) with 95 places.
The original article was published on this web site.
