Granny's corner and Vammala Area Hospital

My first visit to day was to "Granny's Corner". This is a centre for voluntary work with the elderly. They run a drop-in centre for the elderly and also arranges volunteers to visit the elderly in their homes or accompany them to hospital visits or socially.

"Granny's Corner"

Upstairs in Granny's Corner

Granny's corner is funded by the Lutheran Church. There are 7 paid workers and about 1,500 volunteers. It runs from about 10-2 Monday to Friday. Unfortunately it closes for the summer and so it was empty when I visited. My host, Hanna, took me round the centre. It has a very homely feel and is very bright and cheerful. The name Mummon Kammari literally translates as "going to Granny's home" and this is what they have tried to reacreate. The place opened in 1989 after a group from the church decided to formalise the voluntary visiting that they did. Initially they had an open drop-in centre for all ages but it was too big and so they focused on the elderly. Maarit Tammisto was the visionary behind this and developed it into a business. She is still very much involved today. about 100 elderly people (grannies and grandpas!) come each day and are able to have coffee together and join in the many activities which include knitting, art and crafts, singing, theatre (the elderly folk write, make the costumes and then perform their plays at local elderly homes including the very large 1,000 bedded residential home Koukkuniemen vanhainkoti. In the early days one gentleman decided he wanted to share his computer skills. The other workers agreed that he could but did not think there would be many taking up this offer. At the first sessions there were over 80!

one of the computer workstations

some of the craft work

Some of the handicrafts are sold to raise money for the children's intensive care unit at TAYS and to date they have raised over 67,000 euros. Blankets are knitted and sent to India. There is the opportunity to check their blood pressure and a rest room. As people are living longer there are no longer sufficient care beds so this is supporting the plan to keep elderly people in their own homes. There is not really a tradition of volunteering in Finland but they have no problem recruiting for Granny's Corner. The volunteers offer themselves. They have two 2 hour training sessions and then an interview with Ms Tammisto. There is no sytem of CRB checking in Finland and they will take people with health or problem backgrounds. They may decide that some people would be better working at the centre rather than going to peoples' homes though.

A weekly church service is held

"We still have energy"!!!

I think the t-shirt above sums up the philosophy of Granny's corner - the elderly do still have energy and can still make a valid and important contribution.

I then spent some time in the centre before my bus left. There was a market in the centre.

I walked back to the bus station and called in at the Orthodox church (the theme of yesterday was still ongoing - I even had more cakes - with Hanna, for my lunch and then later at Vammala!)

I then caught the coach to Vammala. I showed the driver where I needed to get off. It was about 50km from Tampere. the drive was really nice, passing through Nokia and then forested areas. I kept seeing signs warning about Elk but I did not catch a glimpse of one! The driver then said to me he thought this was my stop. I looked out and saw a hospital sign (the red cross) and a lady standing at the bus stop so agreed it probably was!

I met Tuula Suurkoivu the chief Nursing Director of Vammala Regional Hospital. She gave me a very interesting presentation about the hospital and its future. With the government changes they do not yet know what will happen to Vammala. One plan is to focus most of secondary care on the 5 university areas but there are many large district hospitals. The hospital currently is a general hospital with maternity and psychiatric care. It has a total of 99 beds. Already there have been cuts to the maternity services and so at weekends women now have to travel the 50km to TAYS. The psychiatric units are very specialised and there is a fear that if these go to TAYS as well they may lose some of their focus on psycho-social support and their family orientation. Tuula outlined a concern that she has about the workforce - whereas the older workforce tend to settel and stay in one job and are very dedicated, younger people want to be more flexible, they do not want to work weekends and nights and often only stay for short periods. 

There is clear evidence of co-operations between primary and specialised health care. The next presentation by Marita demonstrated this. She is involved in  the Potku project. "Potku" literally means "kick". It is based on the Wagner model for the management of chronic conditions. I felt very much at home with this. With the social and health care services in the Sastamalan region they are introducing the concepts of self management  and patient centred care. They are offering advice through group work and patient support and bringing health professional on board with this new way of thinking.This is happening in secondary care and the health centres. Patients complete a self-assessment form and then meet with the nurses and doctors to draw up self-management plans and care plans with patient led goals.They use the care pathways that I found out a bout last week to ensure that secondary and primary care professionals are all aware of their responsibilities and that there is no duplication of services or gaps.

Katri, an occupational therapist then told me more about the psychiatric care. They have a new acute service which is manned by two nurses and one doctor to asses acute patients. They also support staff at the emergency department and on the wards. There is a day centre for 8 patients and two 18 bedded wards, although one will close at the end of this week for the summer. One of the aims of the hospital is to promote the environmental-therapeutic nursing. It is hoped that by developing a therapeutic and stimulating environment this will promote health, rehabilitation and well-being. Thus the central square of the hospital as been designed to be colourful and relaxing for all the seasons.

Katri and her colleague Marita then took me on a brief tour round the psychiatric unit and then to the emergency department. It was interesting to see a smaller unit compared to TAYS and to speak with the head nurse there. I asked if the nurses were worried about the future changes but she said they were too busy doing their work to worry!

After this Katri and Marita took me sightseeing in Vammala. We went to "Mr Clutterbuck's House". Mauri Kunnas is one of Finland's most successful children's authors. He was born in Vammala and they have built a replica of some of the character's house and his adventures. I think my guide was a little disappointed that I had not heard of Mauri Kunnas!

Mr Clutterbuck

It would seem that Mr Clutterbuck has lots of adventures but mainly when he is asleep as he sleep walks! the house is based on four of the books, including "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" where Arthur is the High Cat-King!

Part of the lighthouse and a walkway which we crawled across as it is designed really for children!

The 31st Century!

We then drove to St Olaf's Church. This is a beautiful medieval church out in the countryside by the lake.

It was built as a catholic church but became Lutheran after the reformation. It was used until 1855 and then left as a new church was built in the town centre. Towards the end of the 20th century it was reopened and became a popular venue for weddings. It needed a lot of restoration work including replacing the 18th century wooden roof. 17,000 aspen saplings were used but shortly after it was finished the church was almost burnt to the ground after an arson attack. However, it was rebuilt with a replacement roof and with some much more modern artworks.

Osmo Rauhala's altar

Part of the gallery paintings by Kuutti Lavonen - these show the final stages of the crucifixion and the resurrection

The pulpit

There are many beautiful paintings including the seven days of creation. I was very intrigued that Adam and Eve are depicted as a pair of elephants!

The roof really is amazing - constructed out of wood and tar

Sheep behind the church!

It was then time to catch the coach back to Tampere. Another really full but very interesting and enjoyable day. Time now to have my tea and watch "The Apprentice - You're Hired"!