Here, a Speech Therapist from The Life Foundation, shares her experiences from visiting Romania to teach care routines.

“Although I had prepared myself, the conditions that people were living in were truly shocking. Drinking water was kept in a bucket and handed out in metal bowls occasionally throughout the day, so most of the adults appeared very dehydrated in the heat.  Our whole team worked really hard with the carers and the adults to introduce some basic care routines (e.g. Hygiene and hydration). The Slõ Drinks were particularly useful for helping us to safely rehydrate some very poorly individuals.

The main difficulty we faced is the lack of available staff to support eating/ drinking, particularly around mealtimes (not including volunteers) which meant that long-term, it’s unlikely the staff will be able to keep up with individual food and drink preparation. They have just 4 carers to 67 adults, currently!

However, The Life Foundation plans to continue it’s work with the carers and adults in this institution to improve levels of staffing and carer training.”

The website link is: http://thelifefoundation.co.uk/listing-volunteer-in-oltania-8.html

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