Retirement homes do not have a good reputation, even less so since the Orpea scandal revealed by the investigative book “Les Fossoyeurs” in 2022. However, there are many nursing homes where it is good to live and age.
How can we age well at home or in a nursing home when the elderly sector lacks resources and personnel and, at the same time, the number of over 60s is only increasing? These are questions that the “Aging Well” law will attempt to answer. The text is examined from today by the deputies. After the Orpea scandal revealed in 2022 by the investigative book The Gravediggers by Victor Castanet, retirement homes have a bad reputation. However, there are many establishments where it is good to live and grow old.
Example at Brienon-sur-Armançon in Yonne. What is striking when you enter Hameau la Loupière is that it does not look like a classic nursing home. Here, the staff do not wear white coats, the residents are not in wheelchairs, there are colors, there is life. Under the glass roofs of the entertainment room, around ten residents peel potatoes and carrots. Renée, 90 years old, is delighted. “We’re cutting vegetables for tonight’s soup, she explains. We will taste it around a table, all together. It’s wonderful, life is beautiful!”
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The “humanity” method
Here, the ambition is to restore autonomy to the 75 residents, thanks to a method called “humanitude”. Old people are at home here, surrounded by their trinkets and photos. They live at their own pace and when you enter their room, you have to knock. This is what it does
Anne-Sophie, gerontology care assistant, before entering Paulette’s room. “Hello, was the nap good?, she asks the resident. I came to offer you a singing workshop.” Anne-Sophie was trained to look the residents of the nursing home in the eyes by putting herself at their level, she learned to speak to them and handle them gently. Here residents walk at least twenty minutes a day.
Of course, it requires a lot of effort but it gives meaning to the work of this caregiver, who confides: “It’s nice to see a resident who walks, who has a smile… The fact that“When you look at it, when you touch it, it’s magnificent.” Even the most dependent residents take part in the activities. In the Alzheimer’s unit, they sing a song. “Are you starting, Mado? Since you chose the song…”, offers nursing assistance. The resident begins the first measures of My lover from Saint-Jeansoon followed by the other members of the choir.
A visible gain in autonomy for residents
The managers of the establishment chose to train their staff by dipping into their budget, and it works so well that the residents gain autonomy. The director of the association Pierre Kucharski regrets not being more supported. “The work we do to improve autonomy is absolutely not valuedhe laments. We’re not going to make people who are going to sign up for the Olympics, that’s for sure. But we are going to make them people who have more autonomy, who can walk. Overall, the bedridden rate is decreasing, we have statistics that prove it.”
“It’s important for everyone, as much for the dignity of the resident, their well-being, as for that of the employees. Everyone is a winner in this story.”
Pierre Kucharskiat franceinfo
In this Ephpad, there are no more staff than elsewhere because when residents gain autonomy, the caregivers save time.
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To age well, you also need to be in good health. But today, the years that we gain in life expectancy are not years of good health. The secret is prevention. Thus, at the Toulouse gerontopole, Professor Yves Rolland set up a program proposed by the WHO: ICOPE, for Integrated Care for Older People. This program helps identify problems before they get worse using a simple application that asks older people about their general health. “For example, if there is a mobility difficulty, this anomaly is identified by a chair rise testexplains Yves Rolland. At that point, this alert is sent back to a nurse who can call the patient, contact the attending physician, see the possible reasons for this reduction in mobility, and intervene early. The solutions may be to engage the elderly person in physical activity groups or to make therapeutic modifications.”
“The various possible actions are often not currently carried out, because we wait until elderly people are dependent for there to be a real alert. We really need to act upstream.”
Professor Yves Rolland, geriatricianfranceinfo
This geriatrician from the IHU HealthAge in Toulouse estimates that on a large scale, this program would make it possible to reduce the dependency of 150,000 people in France, simply through prevention. Professionals in the sector are therefore calling for a more ambitious plan than this “Aging Well” law, to respond to the challenges of a society that is aging with poor health.