On this day, residents are concentrated in sowing sprigs of lavender, sitting around a table, in a room at controlled temperature. The fragrant grains will end up in small sachets which will perfume the cupboards of each room. This is one of the activities that the staff of the Jardins de l’Alouette nursing home in Pessac can offer to residents who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease in the event of a heat wave.
“When the weather is very hot, we take them for a walk in the gardens early and we favor workshops like this one and time for discussion”, explains Corinne Casaubieilh, animator. The Bordeaux University Hospital presents its anti-heat wave plan in early July, when a heat wave is announced for the end of the month and should be a new ordeal for caregivers.
A population weakened by the health crisis
Seniors do not emerge unscathed from the past year and a half which has deprived them of social ties, stimulation but also some care. “This population has lost autonomy and is therefore more in difficulty to drink alone or to get a drink or even to move to refreshed places,” said Professor Nathalie Salles, head of the clinical gerontology center at the Bordeaux University Hospital. We are going to need even more caregivers who are already exhausted, I think it will make this heat wave more difficult if it were to occur this year, even compared to last year. “
These caregivers also note a weakening of the residents. “Even if we tried to adapt with skypes, it’s complicated for these generations and there was a cognitive decline in some, people who let themselves go”, adds Stéphane Mespoulède, nurse coordinator at the Lormont nursing home.
The threat of a resumption of the epidemic worries
“We are ready, this exercise has been repeated for several years. What worries me is the Covid which is not far away, says Marie-Pierre Stayan, health manager at Jardins de l’Alouette. The heat wave exercise we know, the Covid exercise we know because we had clusters, but if we end up with a cluster during a heat wave, then it will be worrying. “In his establishment, the summer holidays were given to caregivers, who really need it. Some suggest coming back in case of shortage of staff. “But we must not pull too much on the rope either,” warns the health manager.
At the Bordeaux University Hospital, the sanitary quality of the air conditioning has been closely examined. “We are very vigilant in making our patients’ air comfortable, but also in ensuring safety in the treatment of the air,” assures Doctor Agnès Lasheras-Bauduin, from the hospital hygiene service. We have installations with air handling units where it is not recycled, but new air is injected and, when it must be filtered, it is with high security filters. “