As I walk through the corridors of St Vincent de Paule – a home to over 1,000 elderly persons – I am overcome by a sense of calm.
It is early afternoon and just about tea-time. Murmurs of residents reciting the rosary and tea trolleys being pushed through the corridors, immediately start to break the silence.
Residents look serene and content – detached from the world outside St Vincent de Paule Residence (SVPR) – they feel secure in an environment created to see to their specific and individual needs. The occasional smile captured and returned, spells out their thirst for constant attention.
Today 920 persons are employed at SVPR and while residents pay their share to stay at SVPR, the government remains the key provider. One bed costs the government Lm23 daily to keep.
Despite all this, to many people, SVPR remains a faraway home for the elderly they once heard about as children; but to others it is now their second home which they trust gives them the hope and the strength to enjoy their final journey on earth.
Those who accompany them through the journey are the staff. While speaking to the nursing and care staff at SVPR, I realise, more and more, that their profession is indeed a true vocation.
Raymond Chetcuti, a nursing officer at SVPR, describes the elderly as being the elite of society because of the wide range of experiences they possess.
“With all their experience and knowledge, the elderly are able to pass on to us all that they have learnt throughout life in the most natural manner and within a short period of time,” he said.
Mr Chetcuti has worked at SVPR for the past 18 years and has been a nurse since 1987. The elderly are close to his heart. He speaks about the joy residents feel whenever someone turns up to visit them at the ward.
“They are at their best whenever they get visitors,” said Mr Chetcuti. “However the friendships they create within the ward are also very important to them. The residents in their ward become their extended family.”
Living in long-stay wards – unlike wards at St Luke’s Hospital, for example, where persons are discharged after some time – SVPR becomes a second home to residents.
“Residents form strong friendships in long-stay wards and start to care for each other in a special manner – this is family to them,” he explained.
However, personal visits remain the most important thing to SVPR residents. Mr Chetcuti said many residents are regularly visited by their families or friends, but others are not. Visiting hours at SVPR have been revised in order to accommodate a greater number of visitors.
“Lately, the management organised special concession visiting hours for those who are unable to adhere to the regular ones,” said Mr Chetcuti.
On the same note, SVPR’s medical superintendent Ronald Fiorentino said that some people are unable to visit their relatives during the scheduled visiting hours due to work commitments.
“We organised the special concession visiting hours because there is a significant number of persons who are unable to come to SVPR during the normal visiting hours,” explained Dr Fiorentino. “Furthermore we are also looking into the possibility of introducing what is called an ‘open door policy’ whereby within a certain time people can come and visit their relatives or friends as they please.”
As we close the subject of visiting hours, I ask Mr Chetcuti about the religious aspect at SVPR. Evidently religion plays an important role in the complex.
Mass is said every day and the rosary is recited daily in most wards. When it is not possible for some residents to attend mass and receive Holy Communion a priest visits the residents in their rooms to offer them communion.
“Religion matters immensely to the elderly. As staff we take this need of theirs very seriously. When caring for the elderly, one has to look at issues beyond medical ones, and religion is one of them. This is what is referred to as a holistic approach,” explained Mr Chetcuti. “In RB2A there is a statue of Christ the Redeemer which was made by the residents themselves.”
Mr Chetcuti has just been awarded the MUMN annual award 2005 for the Outstanding Achievement and Significant Contributions to the Midwifery/Nursing profession. Besides being an NO at Ruzar Briffa 2A, he is also very active in providing and creating social activities for the employees, is the president of the SVPR Running Group, is heavily involved in the SVPR theatre and entertainment events and is also the coordinator of the SVPR Band.
The complex
Creating a better quality of life for the elderly is an ongoing process. As a result, a number of new wards have recently been opened and refurbished while others are in the process of being upgraded at SVPR.
Furthermore, the extensive work that has been carried out so as to upgrade the occupational therapy and physiotherapy service, the introduction of speech language therapy, podology and social workers services and soon the upgrading of the day clinic as well as the setting up of an Activity Centre at SVPR, prove that the elderly are being well taken care of in our society.
To highlight one of the upgraded services, I spoke to Antoinette Laferla – the officer in charge of the Occupational Therapy department.
At the moment there are 15 persons working at the OT department – nine occupational therapists and six support staff. “The main aim of occupational therapy is to ensure that the elderly person entering SVPR is as independent as possible,” explains Ms Laferla. “The key word is independence. However that does not mean that if one is independent, then he or she cannot receive OT.”
Therapists seek to develop the maximum potential of each and every person. “Therefore at the beginning we try and find the needed balance, movements and so on and once a person (for example after a stroke) has acquired the basic physical abilities, we then move on to occupational therapy activities,” said Ms Laferla.
Activities common to everyone – even to the elderly – incorporate daily activities such as washing and eating. “We assess the person, address the needs and adapt accordingly. Every person who enters SVPR is assessed at the Admission Ward and a general assessment is carried out. From then on we see to the specific needs of the person,” said Ms Laferla.
Apart from the activities of daily living, Ms Laferla explained that other OT activities include focusing on the individual’s existing skills or those he or she would like to develop. “The activities we choose are aimed to help the person socially.”
The OT department is frequented daily by some and never by others. “The OT opportunity is offered to all. Here the elderly produce things – this keeps them active and enhances their creativity. Some continue working on things similar to those they used to do outside SVPR, others do crafts which they learnt how to handle for the first time here at SVPR.”
Once all the objects at the OT are produced they are then displayed and sold every year around Christmas time when a fair is organised. This, said Ms Laferla, is a big boost for the residents who are elated to see people actually paying money for the product they made with their own hands. The money collected from the sales is then used to buy more working material for the following year.
Around 20 persons attend the OT department daily and other work is done at ward level.
“However we wish the number would increase and more people would attend – but many refuse to and we cannot force anyone to come. This is why awareness on the benefits of OT is very important,” said Ms Laferla.
In 1989, there was a restructuring of the OT department. At the time it was made more accessible to the residents and from then on more OTs were employed by SVPR. Prior to 1989 there was only one OT working in this sector at SVPR. In 2001, there was then a migration of the OT department to the Ruzar Briffa Complex .
The nine OTs at SVPR are not solely confined to the department building but also offer their services to government homes for the elderly as well as day centres for the elderly.
There is also an out-patient OT service at SVPR which, although limited, is offered when needed. The same service is offered to persons who require OT linked to Scheme 7 of the Housing Authority. All this is done through a thorough assessment.
Meanwhile the OT department also organises activities outside the SVPR premises.
Entertainment
The entertainment department at SVPR organises regular outings and activities for the residents at SVPR – activities which the elderly always look forward to.
The events are varied and spread throughout the entire year.
To mention a few, the entertainment section organises summer evenings by the sea, outings to the countryside during the winter and various cultural activities which keep the elderly adjourned with the latest cultural events taking place on the island.
Christmas and Easter time are also times when many activities including dinner parties, variety fairs, crib exhibitions and the Last Supper exhibitions have proven to be very popular.
Village and traditional feasts are also celebrated at SVPR, and every year SVPR residents are invited to village feasts by different parish priests.
Additional activities are held in the SVPR theatre.
These include events to celebrate Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, World Day for the Elderly and other special occasions.
On Mother’s and Father’s Day residents receive gifts which are presented to them by distinguished personalities.
Last but not least, the residents are also given the opportunity to take a trip to Malta’s sister island – Gozo.
SVPR residents can rest assured that, at any time throughout the year, there is some form of entertainment or activity to look forward to.
This is also because at ward level, the staff organise activities which are over and above those organised by the SVPR entertainment section.
The more active the elderly keep, the better the quality of life they lead.
This is why the management encourage groups and individuals to organise entertainment activities for SVPR residents.
In a complex as large as SVPR, with over 1,000 residents, there is never enough entertainment – whatever and whoever can make the residents smile is welcome!
Daniela Xuereb is private secretary within the Parliamentary Secretariat for the Elderly and Community Care.