The importance of safety

The pandemic has faced us with quite a number of challenges. On the one hand, social welfare homes had to adapt to the current conditions, while on the other, they had to propose new rules to their inhabitants and employees. Their priority was to provide the elderly, the ill and people with disabilities with the necessary 24-hour care, while guaranteeing the maximum safety level for everyone around.

The attempts at providing safe conditions for the inhabitants were taken, for instance, at the Social Welfare Home for people with physical disabilities in Lublin.  Currently, 100 people remain in the facility. The youngest inhabitant is 26, while the oldest is 90. Tomasz Zdunek, the manager of the administrative and economic department ensures that the facility also protects the safety of its employees. “During our daily activities, we follow the recommendations of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, the Chief Sanitary Inspector and the Lubelskie Voivodeship Office – he stresses.

Every day, our personnel uses visors, head masks, gloves and disinfectants. The personal protective equipment was secured by the Lublin City Office and the Lubelskie Voivodeship Office. Zdunek adds that the financing is also provided under social welfare home's own funds planned for 2020. 

Preliminary actions

Social Welfare Home in Czubin (Mazowieckie Voivodeship) is dedicated to 104 adult inhabitants with developmental impairments. The head of the facility Roman Wodzyński admits that the initial measures for the safety of the inhabitants had been implemented before the publication of the Minister of Health’s ordinance introducing an epidemic hazard state in Poland in mid-March.

For this purpose, the facility has introduced, among others, a requirements for the employees to was and disinfect surface areas every 3 hours, the obligation to wear single-use gloves and to take the temperature. In addition, the working shifts have also been changed in order to ensure the continuity of operation of the unit. The inhabitants on the other hand, were provided with therapeutic activities (including a reduced number of participants divided into groups), as well as numerous constructive activities, allowing for self-fulfilment and development of activities held during their free time, with maximum sanitary regime.

When the risk was decreasing, the unit has been gradually returning to group activities, however still maintaining maximum precautions. “All forms of activity play a very important role in the lives of our residents. These activities allow to build self-esteem, develop talents, retain fitness, prevent stagnation and develop social relations. That has a positive impact on the general comfort and well-being as well as allows to decrease the feeling of threat by the pandemic and the resulting limited contact with the outside world” – says Wodzyński.

Priority: activation

The importance of maintaining the activity of the inhabitants is also stressed by Marzena Asad, inspector for administrative matters at the “Kombatant” Social Welfare Home in Bytom. The facility is designed for nearly 130 elderly inhabitants. The necessary safety measures for the employees and the inhabitants were also introduced after the outbreak of the pandemic, i.e.: rotating shifts for nurses, ensuring personal protection equipment, ongoing monitoring of the health of all individuals who remain in the facility.

Asad states that the further step involved activation of the inhabitants while maintaining a sanitary regime. For this purpose, outdoor classes were conducted at the gym and a bowling alley, numerous integration meetings were held in the garden, as well as improvement classes  which were conducted in the residents' rooms, in the rehabilitation complex, individually, using specialist equipment. “The activation of the inhabitants and the rehabilitation in the broadest sense has contributed to increased physical fitness, allowed to release the negative emotions accumulated due to the isolation. It has provided the inhabitants with joy and has significantly improved the comfort of life for the inhabitants” – says Asad.

“There is plenty of outdoor activities for the residents. Residents thoroughly enjoy barbecues, activating exercises and social games,”  – says Maria Janeta, Deputy Head of the Pope John Paul II Social Welfare Home in Gorzyce (Śląskie Voivodeship).

The facility is inhabited by nearly 220 seniors and persons with disabilities. During the pandemic, the duties of the personnel and the free time for the inhabitants were heavily reorganised. “Cultural and educational meetings and events which used to be held for the entire community are now organised for smaller groups. Occupational therapy workshops still operate, we have increased the number of TV channels available to the inhabitants, we have established new relaxation areas for the inhabitants in our garden. The residents who live in a given segment meet together. The chapel inside the facility is open for everyone. Everyone longs for contact with another human being. Classes help to distract from negative thinking, provide experience, reduce tension” – Janeta points out.

Social Welfare Homes are made by the people

The inhabitants of the St. John Paul II Social Welfare Home in Lublin were particularly affected by the pandemic. In addition to the introduction of and compliance with basic health and safety measures as part of the general safety precautions - all external visitors are not permitted. Necessary formalities are carried out at a designated area in front of the entrance to the facility and the glass door allows the inhabitants to see the visiting loved ones. They also have the possibility to make phone and video calls.

“The inhabitants are not allowed to leave the House, which negatively impacts their well-being, but they can always access the garden where they walk and spend their free time” - says Barbara Bartyzel, social worker at the Social Welfare Home. “The activities taken by the personnel focus mainly on therapeutic contact, supportive conversations, time management and individual support which allows to overcome the feeling of isolation” – she added.

However, all employees and managers agree: social welfare homes are important for their residents and everything must be done to ensure that they can continue their activities regardless of the current conditions. “As a place of residence and a place of work, the Social Welfare Home combines the features of a real home, particularly the values and emotions typically associated with home. It is quite a difficult combination, but it encompasses an entire range of emotions and values associated with direct work with another person and the very essence of the home as a safe, pleasant and important place for each person, a resident of the social welfare home”  – notes Magdalena Zawadko, the head specialist at the Marie Juchacz Social Welfare Home in Gorzów Wielkopolski.

In her opinion, the sense of stability and security at a social welfare home largely depends on people, on their ability to cooperate and on showing respect for the other person. “Social welfare homes are created by the people: residents and personnel who, through the implementation of their goals, work for the success of the entire operation” – she added.