The average life expectancy of elderly people in nursing homes in the Vitebsk region exceeds 80 years
The Dunilovichi psycho-neurological boarding house for the elderly and disabled is opening a new residential building today, the institution informed a BELTA correspondent.
For the first time since 1957, when the boarding house began to operate, it has undergone large-scale reconstruction and renovation. Thanks to the work done, the residents of the boarding house were able to get a comfortable residential building with one, two and four-bed rooms. A total of 105 elderly people will live here. The new building will house workshops for occupational therapy, a lounge, a room for visitors, and a prayer room.
The implementation of the project became possible thanks to the Comprehensive Program for the Development of Social Services for 2011-2015 of the Republic of Belarus. In 2012, in accordance with the program, about Br65 billion was allocated and utilized for major repairs, reconstruction and construction of social institutions. This amount was four times higher than the funds allocated in 2011. In addition, in 2012, 2.5 times more funds were directed to equipping boarding houses than in the last 10 years combined. Refrigeration, kitchen, and medical equipment were purchased to replace worn-out ones, as well as ten vehicles for transporting patients to medical facilities and delivering food. The work carried out made it possible to eliminate the waiting list for admission to boarding houses, and also significantly improved the quality of life of the elderly living in them. As a result, the average life expectancy in boarding houses is over 80 years.
The Vitebsk region has the largest number of boarding houses in the republic - 15, which house about 3.4 thousand pensioners and disabled people. These include 5 general type boarding houses with 762 beds and 10 psycho-neurological type boarding houses with 2627 beds. Reconstruction and major repair work on boarding houses will continue in 2013. In particular, the old buildings of the Dunilovichi psycho-neurological boarding house are to be majorly repaired. In the future, it is planned to use them as residential cottages for lonely elderly people who can take care of themselves.