The Silviahemmet centre is run on the premise that good care means providing dignity to not just those being cared for, but family members and care staff too. - ST
STOCKHOLM: Perched atop a wind-swept hill on the outskirts of Swedish capital Stockholm is a homely villa housing a daycare centre for individuals with dementia and similar cognitive disorders.
The Silviahemmet centre is run on the premise that good care means providing dignity to not just those being cared for, but family members and care staff too.
To this end, professional care is provided there in a relaxed, inviting atmosphere, all while ensuring that family members receive the social support they need, and care staff are respected for their skills, which are honed with practical training.
This progressive and holistic approach to eldercare is among Swedish innovations that the Scandinavian nation hopes can help meet Singapore’s needs, especially given the Republic’s ageing population.
The Straits Times visited Silviahemmet on Nov 11 as part of a media trip organised by the Swedish government ahead of a state visit by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his consort, Queen Silvia, to Singapore from Nov 19 to Nov 21.
Vibrant colours, soft furnishings and rooms lit by a mixture of warm indoor lights and large windows provide a relaxed, inviting atmosphere at Silviahemmet, which is run by a non-profit foundation of the same name.
As dementia can sometimes erode spatial perception, to the frustration of those with the condition, soft, brightly coloured furnishings with round corners can help them gain a better sense of “where their body starts and ends”, said Dr Wilhelmina Hoffman, the Silviahemmet foundation’s chief executive officer.
The attention to detail at the centre extends to the attire for its 14 staff members, who include nurses, assistant nurses and occupational therapists.
“I’m a doctor, but I’m not dressed in a white coat. The staff here also wear ordinary clothes,” said Dr Hoffman. She said the choice of attire was deliberate, to both stave off a feeling of clinical sterility and encourage a sense of dignity and pride among staff.
Each year, the Silviahemmet foundation runs training courses for 10,000 to 12,000 professionals internationally, including dental hygienists and occupational therapists, on how to properly treat the people with dementia with whom they interact, Dr Hoffman said.
Queen Silvia, after whom the foundation and care facility were named, personally awards brooches to those who complete the foundation’s flagship work-study programme. The consort has been known to pop by Silviahemmet, which is located a stone’s throw from royal residence Drottningholm Palace, on occasion.
Aside from eldercare, the ageing population and increased demand on healthcare systems will also create more opportunities for Sweden’s wider medical technology sector to contribute to Singapore, said industry experts at a panel discussion.
The session was held on Nov 11 by trade promotion agency Business Sweden for visiting Singapore reporters at Forskaren, a research hub on the outskirts of Stockholm that opened in May.
The panellists were Alexandra Svanstrom, policy and patient affairs manager at pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca; Cecilia Sjostedt, vice-president for critical care at mechanical ventilation provider Getinge; and Mattias Thorsson, vice-president of corporate communications at radiotherapy equipment maker Elekta.
Svanstrom said that while cancer is a major focus area for AstraZeneca, the company is also directing its research efforts at a wider range of diseases that affect the elderly in both Sweden and Singapore. These include chronic kidney disease, asthma and heart failure.
Thorsson said that in future, customised drug treatments, coupled with more intense, yet targeted, radiation therapy, could improve cancer treatment significantly.
He said the most advanced equipment can be found in Singapore, given its economic development and medical innovation, but availability is lower than in other developed economies.
“At the moment, I think certain countries, like Japan and South Korea, are perhaps slightly ahead (in terms of) having a very high density of very advanced equipment.”
The panellists also noted the strong presence of Singaporean talent in their businesses in the Republic, as well as in Sweden.
The green economy is another area with opportunities for collaboration, by Sweden’s reckoning.
Hakan Jevrell, State Secretary to the Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, told reporters in a Nov 12 interview: “Swedish companies have it in their core to always be committed to the topic of climate change and to find good solutions to be able to manage the green transition.”
Green and Growing is one company that wishes to contribute to this transition. It has seven small hydroponic farms roughly the size of shipping containers, each overseen by one employee in charge of growing, harvesting and packing vegetables.
Founder and CEO Magnus Leydner said that each farm is precisely sized and located to yield enough vegetables to help meet the needs of those living within 15 minutes from it.
This allows vegetables to be delivered in quicker time after harvest, improving freshness while reducing carbon emissions.
The vegetables are grown vertically, with optimised nutrient, light and temperature conditions that are regulated electronically.
Leydner said such small vertical farms embedded in local communities may help Singapore’s efforts to improve self-sufficiency in food production, compared with larger hydroponic farms that need more capital outlay and emit more carbon dioxide to transport their produce to the market.
In a second discussion organised by Business Sweden on Nov 11, panellists from the transport and energy sectors spoke about how Swedish companies are well placed to provide electric vehicles, charging infrastructure and energy transmission infrastructure to projects Singapore is ramping up, including the Tuas Megaport and its energy imports. - The Straits Times/ANN
