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Jurn Verschraegen, General Director of the Flemish Centre of Expertise for Dementia, was honoured to hand out the PRoF Care Organisation Award 2016 to Het Ventiel. This non-profit organisation for younger people with dementia was launched in 2015 by Gudrun Callewaert. When her partner was diagnosed with young-onset dementia, she went in search of meaningful leisure experiences to “put the sparkle back” in her partner’s eyes.
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The idea is simple but effective and quite disruptive to the traditional clinical approach: instead of focusing on “patients” and their declining cognitive abilities, Het Ventiel focuses on “people” and all the things they’re still able to do. Het Ventiel thus brings together patients, carers and volunteers (the so called “buddies”) for fun activities, ranging from walking and hippotherapy to baking and painting.
The organisation may be small, but Het Ventiel has a far-reaching impact and manages not only to put back the sparkle in the patients’ eyes, but also in the eyes of their loved ones and the many volunteers. This positive impact on well-being is also translated in clear clinical results, as is shown by the fact that the Alzheimer’s patients within Het Ventiel score significantly well on their MMSE (mini-mental state examination).
As musician and writer Rik De Leeuw, who has been chairing Het Ventiel from the start, puts it: “We have lost the power to trust in recent years. Everything nowadays seems to be based on distrust and scrutiny. Whereas at Het Ventiel, everything revolves around trust: putting trust in the people with young-onset dementia and their possibilities, putting trust in the buddies and their commitment. I’m incredibly proud of Het Ventiel and their uncurbed belief in the power of people.
The organisation may be small, but Het Ventiel has a far-reaching impact and manages not only to put back the sparkle in the patients’ eyes, but also in the eyes of their loved ones and the many volunteers. This positive impact on well-being is also translated in clear clinical results, as is shown by the fact that the Alzheimer’s patients within Het Ventiel score significantly well on their MMSE (mini-mental state examination).
As musician and writer Rik De Leeuw, who has been chairing Het Ventiel from the start, puts it: “We have lost the power to trust in recent years. Everything nowadays seems to be based on distrust and scrutiny. Whereas at Het Ventiel, everything revolves around trust: putting trust in the people with young-onset dementia and their possibilities, putting trust in the buddies and their commitment. I’m incredibly proud of Het Ventiel and their uncurbed belief in the power of people.