At the regional Home by the Fountain in Přelouč, a community home for seniors was established

Přelouč – The Regional Home at the Fountain in Přelouč, Pardubice region, has opened a community home building for seniors. It offers modern facilities closer to a home environment with an emphasis on individualized care and the privacy of residents. The construction of the facility, costing over 100 million CZK for 18 clients, was made possible by European grants.

"In Přelouč, we had the space and experienced staff who are not afraid of changes. However, what was crucial was primarily the financing options, as we received a subsidy of 75 million CZK from the National Recovery Plan for the project costing 104 million CZK,” stated Governor Martin Netolický (3PK).

Architect David Jiříček utilized a partially sloping plot of land with a separate entrance from the street for the building. The building is single-storey from the street side, but the residential floor seemingly levitates on a concrete base of the garage. This allowed the Home at the Fountain to acquire the necessary parking spaces. Three barrier-free blocks each containing six single rooms complement the staff facilities and a terrace. On the roof, there are skylights above the living halls with greenery. The architect also considered that clients in beds should not miss out on the view from the window, so he lowered the window sills.

The Pardubice region only establishes the Home at the Fountain in Přelouč among residential services. The services provided are continuously changing according to needs, with most capacities now concentrated on care for clients with various types of dementia and, newly, respite services, which are in high demand. "The service called a senior home for people over 60 who cannot take care of themselves at home even with assistance is now gaining a new dimension and quality in the form of community housing. Our main goal is for people to feel at home here, have their privacy, while also having accessible services while maintaining their possible independence and dignity,” stated Deputy Governor for Social Care Pavel Šotola (Coalition for the Pardubice Region).

Initially, the Home at the Fountain had 40 beds for the senior home service, but now there are 18. Conversely, the capacity of the home with a special regime has increased from 111 to 145 clients, and respite services have expanded from four people to ten.

According to Šotola, the need for care for clients with dementia is increasing. This is caused by the growing life expectancy and the more frequent occurrence of cognitive disorders among older people. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the capacities of homes with special regimes that provide specialized services. Regular facilities for seniors are not suitable for this purpose. "With the development of home care services, there are many people who would have previously been in nursing homes, but now remain at home. When families can no longer cope, it is more for a home with a special regime,” Šotola told the Czech News Agency, stating that this trend will continue. Nursing homes in the region are gradually allocating an increasingly larger part of their capacity to clients with dementia, usually reaching 30 to 50 percent of beds.

In the Pardubice region, there are 1,971 beds in nursing homes providing comprehensive residential services for clients who cannot care for themselves. They provide accommodation, meals, assistance with hygiene, medication, and activation activities. An additional 1,648 beds are in homes with a special regime. These specialize in services for individuals with chronic mental illness, addictions, Alzheimer's disease, and other types of dementia, requiring constant, specialized care and supervision in a safe environment. Seniors can also use homes with care services, which are often established by municipalities and serve more as housing for self-sufficient seniors. These are not included in the network of social services, and the number of beds in them is not recorded by the regional office.