- Sunday evening, after six weeks of confinement, the government again authorized visiting rights in the Ehpad.
- Visits which must be done without contact, which has already been tested in a Toulouse retirement home since Sunday thanks to a secure airlock.
- Thanks to its plexiglass facade and its phonic screens, this device developed by a Balma company does not allow the virus to pass but allows visual and auditory contact.
After almost six weeks of confinement, the government said that family visits were again allowed in retirement homes from Monday. But not just how not to introduce the virus where it could be devastating for often vulnerable residents.
The confinement in nursing homes is difficult for our seniors and their loved ones. This is why, at the request of a resident, under the responsibility of the director of the establishment and within the framework of a strict protocol, the visits can resume tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/LtNbCHdHJX
- Olivier Véran (@olivierveran) April 19, 2020“It will be at the request of the resident, in extremely limited conditions, not more than two people from the family, not at the same time and under the responsibility of the establishment management […] Health security remains at the heart of our project. There will not be the possibility of a physical contact but a visual contact ”, indicated Sunday evening the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.
Safe eye contact is what a company from the Toulouse area offers thanks to its secure airlock developed in the space of a week. Sunday, she installed her prototype at the Toulouse retirement home of the Tibaous, the structure that had asked her to find a solution.
“We have made an airlock without a door which is applied to the interior of a room. The plexiglass covers the entire front and provides a total physical barrier, but the sound screens fitted with a thin membrane vibrate and let the sound waves pass, ”explains François Chantriaux of the company Usipanel.
A contactless device
With his brother Pierre, they had already had the idea of creating antipostillon windows which equip the cars of the Elysée Palace, creating a barrier between the driver and the occupants or protective windows for shops. This new solution, which is easy to assemble and costs 2,000 euros, re-establishes the link between residents, who have been deprived of all contact with their families for weeks, while respecting the "contactless" constraints laid down by the Regional Agency for health.
“Families can now go and visit them in the establishment, which is less frustrating than seeing themselves through a window outside, without talking to each other. This is important psychologically for our 80 residents who are living in a difficult situation and in whom, for some of them, we were starting to see a sliding syndrome, a decrease in their cognitive and physical state, "explains one of the co-managers of the retirement home.
Even if a psychologist and the staff have always been present to avoid this carelessness, seeing a family member does not have the same effect on morale, especially from an emotional point of view, even if there is no physical contact. "And then you think that the directors of the establishment will not take the risk of bringing the virus in again, this solution is also a means of securing families who are afraid of infecting their loved ones", continues this official.
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- The elderly
- Health
- Ehpad
- Coronavirus
- Containment
- Toulouse
- Retirement home