St. Vincent News

15 February 2009

Our Medical Department.

We are fortunate to have two doctors attending to our children.

Our head nurse, one of the Sisters of the House, makes sure that the children get tender loving care. With her are a staff of nurses, including volunteer nurses normally from Europe.

08 February 2009

Reflexology has a history of at least 5,000 years. Many clinical studies have been conducted into the effectiveness of reflexology. Many countries have begun to recognize the worth of reflexology, as the demand for integrated therapies grows. To understand this therapy well, one needs a good knowledge of many other subjects e.g. the nervous system, pain and its perception, circulation, pressure points, energy pathways etc

Reflexology is the practice of applying pressure to specific points on the feet and hands to influence the health of corresponding parts of the body.'Pressure sensors" on the hands and feet connect with different parts of the body, and as reflexology techniques stimulate these sensors, waves of relaxation are sent throughout the body.

About our reflexology lessons - soon we
will be updated with pictures and

explanations.....................

Physiotherapy Department.

The head of the physiotherapy department is Robert. With Robert, are two employed physiotherapists and volunteer physiotherapists who come from all over the world for a few months, for a year or sometimes even more. Thanks to the assistance to all of these special people, our children are improving motor-wise and for the very handicapped we are at least holding on to the motor functioning that each child has. Right now we have a physiotherapist who is a lung specialist in this field, and also a medical student who are assisting us to give the children quality of life.

Sports Day 2008

learning to walk........

Seating a handicapped child correctly is very important. Some of our children wear corsettes to assist them in sitting correctly.

By sitting in the correct position, the child/adult is free to work with his hands. In this picture, one of our young men is communicating via the communication book of signs, made especially for him in the school.

Playing ball is another physiotherapy activity.

01 February 2009

Feeding and drinking

A special diet is given to each child by our professional dietician, who works together with our medical team, the house mother, the other professionals of the different departments, the kitchen staff and the caregivers of the children. Our dietician makes sure that each child has a healthy diet.

Feeding is a very important part of our childrens lives. To know how to feed a child in the correct manner is one of the most important part of our work in St Vincent. For this reason we have trained speech therapists and occupational therapists both in the school and in the afternoon activities, who assist both the caregivers and the child in this very complex and professional job. Below are pictures taken of our Spanish volunteer who is a professional in this field.

We also have an Occupational Therapist from Germany who is training the children to become independent in eating and drinking.

Eating and drinking can be fun..............

our Winter favourites - Coffee House, Jakuzzi and Snoezelen

Probably you already found the webside of the St Vincent Coffee House. Otherwise here it is: http://www.our-coffeehouse.blogspot.com/ Enjoy...!

Music whereever we go...........

...

The jakuzzi is one of our most popular afternoon activities. Each child is scheduled to go to the jakuzzi at least once in two weeks. Each caregiver who takes a child into the jakuzzi is trained by our professional staff. By giving the child the correct environment - not stressful and very relaxing - creates a learning environment in which the child can learn. One caregiver enters the jakuzzi with one child and another caregiver has to be in the room to watch over and help prepare the child. Here are some recent pictures taken of two volunteers with their children – one from

Germany

and the other from

France

The Snoezelen is also a popular afternoon activity.The children enjoy this non stressful environment and of course have the opportunity to have quality time with their room friends and with their caregiver. The following picture was taken recently with room 5b and their volunteer from

Portugal

25 January 2009

Pam's Job

Since Sr. Susan is back, Pam has a new job every friday afternoon. What is hiding behind "dog therapy" is a relaxed afternoon for the children of room 3A and L. from room 8 with their pet, the dog Pam. We put the children on matresses and Pam says "hello" and gives her "kisses".
The easiest way, to win Pam's attention is with food, what else... So it's nice for her and interesting for the children, when we put some tasty dog food in the hands of the children and let them feed the dog.

As long as it was warm enough, the "dog therapy" took place in the Snoezelen Garden - the home of Pam. For the colder months it is in one of the classrooms.

Snoezelen in the rooms

In the winter we are often confined to closed in areas. So many of the care givers choose at least one afternoon a week to convert their room into a Snoezelen.