De Medemens Care Home St. Bavo, Belgium
A Vocation for Life
Cathi has been working as a care taker at the De Medemens care home for twelve years now. ‘I organize and supervize various daytime activities with the residents, to increase their daily involvement and quality of life. They can be creative or revolve more around exercise. But more than anything we make sure that our residents can take part in every aspect of daily life.'
Koen is the director of that same care home. ‘Traditionally, elderly care revolves around caring and nursing. At De Medemens, we put the emphasis on living together as naturally as possible. And just like in everyone’s home, our kitchen here is also the centre of everyone’s daily life. We have smaller living groups of 9-15 residents. That's why we have various community kitchens where residents not only come to take their meals but just spend their time, socialize or play games'.
A Commitment to Sustainability
A few years ago, the care home made a conscious decision to start working with reusable water bottles. 'On the one hand, because they are an enormous added value, logistically', explains Koen. 'No more estimating quantities, no more lugging crates of bottles from the beverage supplier and walking all over the facility with crates of bottles. No more storing the crates.' 'And for us as care takers, it is also an investment into our backs', adds Cathi, smiling. The bottles are washed in the kitchens' dishwashers and refilled with filtered water from a separate tap, with just the push of a button. There is always water on hand when needed. So there’s no extra transport or waste. At De Medemens St. Bavo, there are both glass and plastic bottles in use. The glass bottles are quite heavy for some residents, so the plastic ones are much more convenient. And the best part: both can go in the dishwasher.
No Compromise on Hygiene
The hygienic reprocessing of refillable bottles in care homes is an important aspect of healthcare and infection prevention. In facilities where elderly and often vulnerable people are cared for, it is crucial that hygiene regulations are strictly adhered to.
‘In order to clean the bottles hygienically, the collaboration with Miele was an obvious choice,’ says Koen. 'Miele not only helps us but also thinks with us when we had the challenge to clean the bottles hygienically'. Miele Professional has become their first choice. The freshwater dishwasher of the MasterLine series and the APFD 210 bottle basket are the perfect match to clean the bottles outside but also inside. The special dishwasher basket is designed to clean tall items like bottles and thermos flasks and is equipped with special high rising injection nozzles. Once a bottle is placed onto a nozzle, it distributes water through the bottleneck up to the bottle's base.
'It even cleans the hard to reach places inside of the bottles which you cannot reach by hand', says Cathi.
This way, 16 bottles can be cleaned with one cycle. And as the MasterLine dishwasher provides cleaning on two levels, the upper basket can still be used for mixed items like cutlery, glasses, cups and small plates.
"In order to clean the bottles hygienically, the collaboration with Miele was an obvious choice,’ says Koen. 'Miele not only helps us but also thinks with us."
Dedication with Integration
At De Medemens, they aim to strike a very natural balance between caring and living together. Sometimes that even includes helping out in the kitchen. 'The appliances we install play a major role in that. Because we believe living together naturally is in the small things. This can even be loading and unloading the dishwasher from time to time.’, says Koen.
'The machines we installed in the kitchen are chosen to contribute to that feeling. The dishwasher, for example, is similar to the one they had at home.’ says Cathi.
At De Medemens, life takes place in the kitchen, too. Not somewhere in a big central kitchen, but in the living group itself, which is cozier and feels like home. Miele Professional contributes to that feeling by providing a perfect solution for care homes with the MasterLine dishwasher and the APFD 210 bottle basket. A sustainable solution with reliable hygienic results for the care home, which takes a bit of hassle of the staff's work life and a way to integrate the residents. For a feeling like home.
