Two ‘pop-up’ 1950s living rooms have been installed at Lichfield’s Samuel Johnson Community Hospital.
Featuring classic newspapers, furnishings and a retro TV and radio playing period programmes, the Reminiscence Pods – known as RemPods – are designed to help older patients feel more comfortable.
They have been paid for by the hospital’s League of Friends, with one in the day room of the Anna ward and the other in the day room of the Darwin ward.
The RemPods have recently featured on Dragons Den and Meryl Hewitson-Groves, chair of the League of Friends, said she was delighted the order had been placed before they hit the headlines on the BBC show.
“The hospital could see the potential that these innovative RemPods had to relax and reassure elderly patients who can share happy memories of their younger days and feel more comfortable and confident in hospital as a result,” she said.
““We were delighted to support them by funding the purchase of two RemPods.”
Viewers of Dragons Den recently saw Gloucestershire-based Richard Ernest win over Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden who agreed to make a joint £100,000 investment in his company.
Richard said the nostalgic features of the RemPods all help to stimulate chat and promote a relaxed, calmer state of mind.
“If patients are feeling distressed and anxious in the unfamiliar surroundings of a hospital, the RemPods take them back to happier times,” he explained.