Our Italian member Diaconia Valdese has recently inaugurated the opening of a new wing of the Re Carlo Alberto nursing home in Luserna San Giovanni, Turin.
The new project, mostly financed by the Otto Per Mille funds, will host extra twelve people in its facilities and it is aimed at being a new way of understanding the hospitality for those affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s. The new wing is not meant to offer traditional residential care services, instead, it is aimed at allowing elderlies to live in a “family-style” and stimulating environment to slow down their cognitive decline.
The new L-shaped structure is made of 4 single and 4 double rooms, all placed on one side of the building, to avoid any resemblance to the classic hospital ward. The common areas, natural light, and the interior design play a fundamental role in that sense. Each room has a set of ‘home symbols’ such as a doorbell, house number, house plate, mailbox, and front door lights designed to promote personalisation, identification and autonomous orientation.
The social life takes place in the “central square”, in which most of the facilities are located. The bathroom simulates a real beauty salon with intimate relaxation areas complete with calibrated multisensory stimulation. The corridors resemble a town’s streets and the therapeutic kitchen gives elderlies the possibility to safely prepare their meals.
Flexibility will be the watchword at the new Re Carlo Alberto’s wing. Beneficiaries will not be given any activity plan and their days in the nursing home will not be marked by fixed and rigid schedules. Instead, a family-rhythm will be created thanks to the support of residents and social workers. Social workers will also be required to be flexible and to be able to task-switch at any time. Doctors and nurses will also be asked to be recognisable but not to wear a uniform to make the new facility feel like home.
The Waldensian Church in Italy participates, like other religious denominations, in the distribution of the Otto per Mille funds. Under the Otto per Mille, Italian taxpayers devolve a compulsory eight per thousand from their annual income tax return to an organised religion or social service provider recognised by the Italian State. The Otto per Mille Valdese is allocated exclusively to the implementation of social, healthcare, humanitarian, and cultural interventions both in Italy and abroad. To this purpose, Organisations are allowed to submit project proposals, to obtain a financial contribution.
To know more about this innovative nursing home, please browse our member’s website.