Dementia patients are being taken back in time in a bid to make their stay at Lichfield hospital more comfortable.
Reminiscence Pods allow the creation of ‘pop-up’ living rooms, complete with 1950s deecor, furnishings, newspapers and magazines, and an old style radio and TV playing period shows.
Two of the so-called RemPods have been purchased by Samuel Johnson Community Hospital to help patients relax in an era where they feel more at home.
Hospitals who already use the ‘pop-up’ living rooms say they have been overwhelmed by the success of them.
Carole Baker, from Derby Royal Hospital, explained: “We have had patients who have refused to eat in their beds or their chairs because they don’t understand where they are.
“But as soon as they have been in the RemPod with all the fixtures they recognise from long-term memory, they have started eating again.
“It is like they feel more at home and not as frightened by the strange, sometimes noisy, environment of the hospital.”
The new RemPods have been funded by the Friends of Samuel Johnson Community Hospital group and will be used in day rooms.
Brendan Brown, director of nursing for Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have been very impressed with the RemPods.
“They provide so many authentic items from the past to see, touch and interact with, and they act as a starting point for lots of conversations and happy reminiscences.
“We are delighted that the first pods will be going to Lichfield.”
