Dutch elderly home builds glass-sided cabin for safe coronavirus visits

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By Reuters Time of article published20m ago

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Wassenaar, Netherlands – A Dutch home for people with dementia has crafted a visiting cabin so that residents can safely meet with family or friends despite the coronavirus outbreak – separated only by a wall of glass.

Outfitted with comfortable chairs, a tea table, and a speaker system, the cabin makes life a little less lonely for residents and their families at a difficult time.

“It can be a little overwhelming at first for people to see, for instance, their father or mother, after three and a half weeks,” director Willem Holleman of Claris Zorgroep said.

Social distancing and other measures have been in place in the Netherlands since March 16.

A woman is seen at a care facility for elderly people with dementia, in a glass house that is made especially against loneliness caused by the visit ban due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Wassenaar, Netherlands. Picture: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters

Residents are brought to the cabin in the garden of the home in Wassenaar for an appointment, while visitors enter from a path on the other side.

“Once they’re inside there are two emotions. First a tear, a sort of happy sorrow – that feeling,” Holleman said.

“Then the following emotion for both: a big smile. Just joy to see each other again.”