L-R: Jean-Paul Schaaf, Ettelbruck Mayor; Jean Feith, CHNP housing director; Corinne Cahen, Family & Integration Minister; Romain Schneider, Social Security Minister; Lydia Mutsch, Health Minister; Claude Turmes, State Secretary for Sustainable Development;
Credit: MFAMIGR
Ettelbruck today inaugurated the new infrastructures of the De Park entity of the Centre Hospitalier Neuro-Psychiatrique (CHNP).
The De Park project, whose inauguration was attended by Luxembourg Minister of Family and Integration Corinne Cahen and Minister of Health Lydia Mutsch, is centre for socio-educational care and support for people suffering from mental illnesses. The centre offers a wide range of therapeutic services, including social and artistic therapy, occupational therapy rehabilitation and physiotherapeutic activities.
Moreover, coaching is specifically adapted to the needs of each resident, who is housed in the De Park accommodation facilities spread over eight spacious pavilions across the park. Participants in daytime activities can choose from a wide range of activities that vary according to their specific abilities and needs. De Park is above all a space focused on the fulfillment and well-being of its residents.
Prior to 1999, there were virtually no facilities or services that could support people with mental illnesses or disorders. In the 20 years that followed, the De Park entity emerged as, in the words of Lydia Mutsch, a necessary "place of life where support and individualised care are adapted to their specific needs, whilse allowing them to preserve maximum authonomy". The idea behind such a space was therefore to change the paradigm by moving from a model of psychiatric care and accommodation in hospital to a model of care and socio-pedagogical support in an adapted entity.
The project developed in three stages: first, the specific needs of people with mental illnesses needed to be clearly identified to create the right services and environment; secondly, a concept of care and socio-pedagogical accompaniment was elaborated taking into account the individualised capacities and specific needs of each resident; finally, infrastructure and the composition of multidisciplinary staff needed to be adapted to meet the needs and expectations of residents.
To carry out this architectural project, a pavilion and a company house were demolished. 5 new buildings have been built and 6 old pavilions are being restored and renovated. With a floor area of 6,500 m2, De Park now has 92 day-use spaces and 100 single-accommodation rooms, 18 of which are for adolescents.
The project cost of €26,508,495 (incl. tax) was fully funded by the Ministry of Family.
