In-hospital counselling

This team ensures that our elderly patients (and their families) receive personalised care on each ward. The nurse on this team examines whether there are other problems besides the reason for admission and who can best assist the patient in this (the dietitian, occupational therapist, speech therapist, psychologist, geriatrician, etc). This team always collaborates with the attending physician and with the ward on which the patient is staying.

Contact?

Through the internal liaison geriatrics nurse: every working day from 8am to 4.30pm on +32 (0)9 246 13 60 or +32 (0)9 246 13 61.

If you are struggling with your illness, admission or its consequences, your attending physician, in consultation with the team, may recommend a clinical psychologist.

Palliative care

Palliative care improves the quality of life for patients and their loved ones who are dealing with a life-threatening condition. The Palliative Care Team, which pays particular attention to any signs of pain or other problems, is responsible for optimal pain and symptom control and personal comfort and it provides humane care for the patient and his or her family and friends.

Advance-care planning

Advance-care planning entails thinking about and making arrangements now about the care you want when you are seriously ill, in case you are unable to decide for yourself by then. This is not only for severely ill patients or the elderly, but for all of us. Reflecting about advance-care planning can lead to the drafting of a living will.

Contact?

You can contact the Palliative Care Team by calling +32 (0)9 246 27 50 or via a nurse on your ward.

If necessary, you will be supported by a team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists.

• Physiotherapist: this care provider treats patients in pain or helps them rehabilitate after an accident or surgery.
• Occupational therapist: this care provider helps patients regain their ability to perform day-to-day activities. The occupational therapist not only helps the patient and his family, but also looks at how the environment can be adapted.
• Speech therapist: this therapist treats patients who have problems with pronunciation, language, eating, drinking, swallowing, breathing, speaking and hearing, as well as reading and writing problems.

Fifteen social workers are at your service for support, information, advice, referrals and assistance.

A visit or admission to a hospital is one of the many links in the care chain. We help ensure a smoother transfer between those links. The social support we provide can start before, during or after a visit or stay in our hospital.

Social Services chiefly help in arranging for different types of care, assistance and administration associated with being ill. Collaboration with the patient themselves, their relatives and care providers at and outside the hospital is a must in this process.

An illness or hospitalisation raises numerous questions, feelings and reflections. Spiritual pain can arise from confrontation with the sometimes inflexible boundaries of reality. Spiritual care providers, therefore, address all people who are sick, suffering and grieving. With all your concerns, you can turn to a representative of your worldview or a secular humanist counsellor in a meeting or conversation. All patients are free to entertain their own philosophical and religious convictions.

Speak to one of our nurses to seek spiritual guidance for you, or contact a representative of your worldview or a secular humanist counsellor yourself.

Maria Middelares General Hospital is a Catholic hospital. The Pastoral Care Services provide personal counselling for patients and families, prayers and rituals, communion and celebrations.

Are you visiting Maria Middelares General Hospital for a medical consultation or a quick treatment? Have you already had your procedure, but now you may go home? Do you need support, but no family members, carers or volunteers from your area or facility are able to join you? Did you know that you can request an enthusiastic volunteer to accompany you in our hospital? To do so, complete the application form at least one week in advance using the button below.