September 3, 2024
‘We can always make contact with patients, safely’
Organisation: Van der Hoeven Kliniek
Target group: clinical forensic psychiatry
Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands
Type of care: highest security level
Solution: CoWin™ 48 (two installations)
The Van der Hoeven Kliniek is a clinic for forensic psychiatry. The patients are prisoners, often with complex psychiatric issues. In the Van der Hoeven Kliniek, they learn how to 'live in a responsible way – to be safe for themselves and others’.
The Van der Hoeven Kliniek operates at a high security level (Level 3) and since January 2022, has a Cowin™ 48 in one of their de-escalation rooms . Based on the successful experiences with this system, a second CoWin™ 48 was recently installed.
The care team sees the CoWin™ as a valuable expansion of their 'toolbox' that they can use to help their patients. During an evaluation of the deployment of the CoWin™ 48 media wall, the following positive experiences were shared:
- Simple, intuitive in use
- It's nice to be able to offer something that the patients really need, like music or images, for example
- It's good to be able to tailor the selection to a patient's individual needs
- Early de-escalation and diversion result in fewer incidents and violent incidents
- It's nice to be able to have safe contact with patients whose behaviour is out of control
- It's helpful to be able to increase stimuli gradually
Floris Bots, team leader at the Van der Hoeven Kliniek: ‘What we appreciate is the simplicity of the system. It's easy to use. CoWin™ also fulfils a concrete need in patients. As a care team, we're therefore able to offer something as an interim measure to patients who are high-energy with a risk of using violence. Often, a bit of television or radio in the de-escalation room offers just enough relaxation to get them prepared for their own room. But we also see that there are patients who experience an awful lot of stress in a low-stimulus environment such as a de-escalation room. The fact that there is some entertainment for those patients has a calming effect on them. We're currently experimenting with all the options and learning from the system every day. There is however just one thing missing: the possibility of playing a game with a patient - so we hope you'll put that high on your development list.'
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