Outdoor and garden work therapy group – ULPU
ULPU is the hospital’s largest, 74-place, work therapy unit, containing 60 patient places in the outdoor work group, and 14 places in the garden work group. Seven tutors work in ULPU, each of whom has nursing training. Patient care and rehabilitation is based on ULPU’s care philosophy and steps to rehabilitation.
Work therapy tasks at ULPU cover a range of disciplines, and we work across the entire hospital sector. Work therapy tasks at ULPU are divided into 6 different modules: the garden, the forest working group, the park areas maintenance group, the transport group, the waste disposal and laundry group, and the Nature, Fishing and Exercise Group (LuKaLi).
Hospital wards apply for a work therapy place for patients by issuing a referral to ULPU, following which the patient is accompanied by a member of staff on a visit to a work unit. Referrals and matters related to work therapy activities are dealt with in ULPU’s weekly Tuesday-morning care team, which includes both tutors and ward personnel. If necessary, the work therapy unit’s immediate superior and the doctor responsible for work therapy participate in the care team.
If necessary, tutors and patients exercise inside the work therapy unit. ULPU’s care team determines the internal focuses of the unit’s activities. Changes inside the unit are determined according to the needs of work tasks and patient care. A patient’s location in the work therapy unit is primarily determined according to his or her rehabilitation needs.
ULPU’s group activity
Work therapy group activity
The operating concept is to offer patients of closed wards functional groups in an ULPU setting, both during the course of work therapy and outside it. The aim of the groups is to prepare patients individually for transition into work therapy. ULPU’s tutors run the groups together with ward personnel.
Nature, Fishing and Exercise Group – LuKaLi
LuKaLi offers exercise and recreational activity to all patients in the hospital. The groups operate outside work therapy times, and are open to all patients in the hospital. Activities take the form of exercise groups and hikes. ULPU’s tutors run the groups together with an exercise instructor and a physiotherapist.
Therapy building
Built in 1985, the well-equipped therapy building houses weaving and hobby crafts as well as the occupational therapy station for technical work. Products manufactured in the course of therapy are available for purchase in the therapy building’s shop, which is open when the therapy building is in use.
Weaving and hobby crafts
Weaving and hobby crafts is supervised by five instructors. Weaving offers the opportunity to weave carpets, rugs and tapestries using a handloom. Hobby crafts allows the patients to learn crafts such as textile printing, knitting and clothing repair.
Technical work
Supervised by four instructors, technical work involves various activities in woodwork, upholstery work and metal work. Where possible, technical work also involves activities such as bicycle maintenance and furniture upholstery as commissioned work.
Creative and functional therapy
Nurses trained in methods of music therapy and creative therapy supervise music and art therapy groups and also provide private supervision. Groups supervised by an art therapist meet weekly both in the art therapy facilities and on the wards. This also allows patients on the most secure wards to participate in the activities. Individual therapy and small groups are also important forms of rehabilitative treatment. The open evening group meets on Wednesdays, when the patients have the opportunity to use the services of the city library located at the hospital.
The use of music therapy has increased in recent years. There are currently three patient bands at the hospital. Individual supervision is also available in music therapy. In addition, several wards have groups designated for listening to music.
Other functional groups include an English group, a Bible study group, a substance abuse discussion group, and a free activity group. The groups are intended for learning purposes and for maintaining social skills. Concerts, theatre and excursions to the hospital’s environs are also popular forms of activity.
The organisation of various parties and events together with the patients is also a part of functional therapy. The therapy building houses a well-equipped teaching kitchen where the patients have the opportunity to learn and practise skills relating to daily cooking and dining and the economical purchase of foodstuffs.
Occupational therapy
Occupational therapy is an assessment, treatment and rehabilitation method forming a part of pharmacological rehabilitation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement.
The occupational therapy process is based on assessments. The occupational therapist together with the person they are working with focus on individual and environmental abilities and problems related to activities in the person’s daily life. Assessment includes the use of standardized procedures, interviews and observations in a variety of settings. The results of the assessment are the basis of the plan which includes short and long-term aims of treatment. The plan should be relevant to the person’s development stage, habits, roles, life-style preferences and the environment.
Exercise and physical therapy
Physical therapy forms part of the goal-oriented and systematic overall treatment of patients. Methods of physical therapy are employed with the objective of rehabilitating the patients’ somatic conditions, improving ergonomics, assisting in the perception of one’s own body with the aim of constructing a healthy self-image.
The objective of exercise therapy is to maintain and promote the patient’s physical and mental health. Exercise therapy involves various types of supervised exercise both individually and in groups.