Namaste Italy

Ever wondered what Namaste would look like in Italy?

In Italy, services for people with dementia are still still being developed. Our country has also developed a National Dementia Plan, but, apart from a few regions and centers of excellence, there is still much to be done to provide appropriate support to people with dementia in all stages of the disease. People with advanced dementia struggle to access palliative care, and often do not receive adequate care that ensures comfort and emotional, relational and spiritual support. People with advanced dementia are still more frequently subjected to invasive treatments at the end of life and pain is underestimated and as a result treatment is often omitted or ineffective.

Ever wondered what Namaste would look like in Italy?

In Italia i servizi per le persone con demenza sono ancora in fase di sviluppo e definizione. Anche il nostro paese ha elaborato un Piano Nazionale Demenze, ma, tranne qualche regione e centro di eccellenza, c’è ancora molto da fare per dare un supporto appropriato alle persone con demenza in tutte le fasi della malattia.

For these reasons our working group is committed to making the Namaste Care program known and disseminated in all the care services in which fragile people access, to enrich their quality of life, through a loving approach, sensory stimulation, shared activity and greater social interaction.

FocosArgento, started working with the international Namaste Care network in January 2020 to implement the program in Italy – we thank Joyce for the valuable advice for the construction of the pilot project. Unfortunately, the pandemic has put this project on hold for a long time due to the inability to access care settings.

Fortunately, now that most of the care staff and the elderly are vaccinated, the project can restart!

We will start with a pilot project with a care home near us (Padua, northern Italy), and then spread the program to the rest of the country. We have created a Facebook page @ namastecare.italia, through which we will disseminate news, knowledge and best practices: we want to build a community of people who can spread Namaste Care in their care service.

We are confident that Namaste Care will have great resonance in our country and will make a great contribution to spreading a holistic and palliative care approach to the care of people with advanced and end-of-life dementia.

Marta Zerbinati, Learning and Development Lead of FocosArgento
Per questi motivi il nostro gruppo di lavoro si sta impegnando a far conoscere e diffondere in tutti i servizi di cura la filosofia in cui accedono persone fragili il programma Namaste Care, di arricchire la loro qualità di vita, attraverso un approccio amorevole, la stimolazione sensoriale, l’attività condivisa ed una maggiore interazione sociale.

Il nostro gruppo di lavoro, FocosArgento, ha iniziato a gennaio 2020 a collaborare con il network internazionale Namaste Care per implementare il programma in Italia – ringraziamo Joyce per i preziosi consigli per la costruzione del progetto pilota. Purtroppo, la pandemia ha messo in pausa per un lungo periodo questo progetto a causa dell’impossibilità di accedere ai contesti di cura. Fortunatamente, ora che personale ed anziani sono in gran parte vaccinati, il progetto può ripartire!Partiremo a settembre con una residenza per anziani vicina a noi (Padova, nord Italia), collaborando a fianco del personale di cura per erogare le sessioni Namaste al maggior numero possibile di residenti con demenza molto grave. Abbiamo creato una pagina Facebook @namastecare.italia, attraverso la quale stiamo divulgando notizie, conoscenze e buone pratiche: desideriamo costruire una community di persone che possa diffondere Namaste Care nel proprio servizio di cura.

Siamo certi che Namaste Care avrà una grande risonanza nel nostro paese e darà un grande contributo a diffondere un approccio di cura olistico e palliativo alla cura e assistenza alle persone con demenza avanzata e in fine vita

Marta Zerbinati, responsabile didattico di FocosArgento

Namaste Care Family Programme In Italy

Get in Touch

Marta Zerbinati

Italy Psychologist, expert in organizations and aging. Founder of FocosArgento, a social enterprise aimed at promoting the well-being and quality of life of people with disabilities and cognitive impairments within healthcare facilities (nursing homes, hospitals). She collaborates with many health care facilities to support care staff to put into practice a bio-psychosocial approach and person-centred care principles to dementia care. She is the learning and development lead for Italy of the Best Practice in Dementia Care Learning Programme, a learning resource for all frontline health and social care staff which was developed by the Dementia Services Development Center (DSDC), University of Stirling. She is a Qualified teacher Isna-Mse (modul 1) for training on Snoezelen-Mse approach. Expert in the multisensory psychosocial approach for promoting the well-being of people with dementia.

Marta Zerbinati

Italy Psicologa, esperta in organizzazioni e invecchiamento. Fondatore di FocosArgento, impresa sociale volta a promuovere il benessere e la qualità della vita delle persone con disabilità e deficit cognitivi all’interno delle strutture sanitarie (case di cura, ospedali). Collabora con molte strutture sanitarie per supportare il personale di assistenza a mettere in pratica un approccio bio-psicosociale e principi di cura centrati sulla persona per la cura della demenza. È la responsabile dell’apprendimento e dello sviluppo per l’Italia del Best Practice in Dementia Care Learning Programme, una risorsa di apprendimento per tutto il personale sanitario e sociale in prima linea sviluppato dal Dementia Services Development Center (DSDC), University of Stirling. È un’insegnante qualificata Isna-Mse (modulo 1) per la formazione sull’approccio Snoezelen-Mse. Esperto nell’approccio psicosociale multisensoriale per la promozione del benessere delle persone con demenza.

Namaste Testimonials

Namaste Care is all about bringing joy and comfort in the lives of people with dementia. By using meaningful activities, we try to connect with the person with dementia. It is about the little moments where you feel that you were able to true connect with the person with dementia to motivate me to continue. For example seeing a smile on the face of the resident that is often non-responsive, hearing a resident speak a full sentence that before Namaste did not say more than one or two words, and seeing the woman that always wandered the corridors sitting in the Namaste room in a comfortable chair with a relaxed expression on her face. The beauty of Namaste Care lays in its simplicity, no expensive equipment or elaborate training is necessary, just loving care and personal attention. It helps family caregivers to meaningfully connect to their loved one. It is a great tool to bring person-centred palliative care to life and to involve family caregivers in a positive way with the care for their loved one.
By Florina Grace - Greece
We are closer to our clients” said one caregiver to me after few months of Namaste care programme in their care home. And that’s the point. Be close to our clients, be able to perceive their individual needs and be able to slowdown in daily routine. Namaste care is about the most common things which we forget to use. It’s about kindness, touch, senses and people. Namaste care is about relationships between clients and caregivers. What you give, you get. Namaste care International is the most inspiring online meeting which you can imagine. How often do you have a chance to speak with people all around the world? Namaste care International is about support, inspiration and common goal which is dignity and quality as a basic principle of care.
Simona Bagarova - Czech Republic
Namaste Care is all about bringing joy and comfort in the lives of people with dementia. By using meaningful activities, we try to connect with the person with dementia. It is about the little moments where you feel that you were able to true connect with the person with dementia to motivate me to continue. For example seeing a smile on the face of the resident that is often non-responsive, hearing a resident speak a full sentence that before Namaste did not say more than one or two words, and seeing the woman that always wandered the corridors sitting in the Namaste room in a comfortable chair with a relaxed expression on her face. The beauty of Namaste Care lays in its simplicity, no expensive equipment or elaborate training is necessary, just loving care and personal attention. It helps family caregivers to meaningfully connect to their loved one. It is a great tool to bring person-centred palliative care to life and to involve family caregivers in a positive way with the care for their loved one.
Hanneke Smaling - Netherlands

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