Best Friends in Hungary

Virginia Bell recently spoke in Budapest, Hungary about the Best Friends approach to dementia care. Much to her pleasure and surprise, Best Friends has been adopted by Catholic Charities there for its residential care programs. Here are some of her reflections on her visit.

My visit to Hungary, as a guest of Zsuzsa Endrôdy, the administrator of Catholic Charities in Hungary and Zsuzsa Kovacsics, the social worker for the program, was amazing in so many ways.
I was invited specifically to conduct a conference on the Best Friends approach to dementia care for staff members that are working in this field. The conference was well attended with a mixture of disciplines- social workers, front line staff, nurses, physicians, administrators and activity and recreational therapists. With the help of an excellent interpreter the language barrier melted away. The language of good care and love are universal and the enthusiastic exchange of ideas was impressive.
  Virginia Bell with her hosts, ZsuZsa Endrôdy   and Zsuzsa Kovacsics, for a visit to Hungary.

The Best Friends approach is not new in Hungary. A few years ago, the Best Friends books were located on line and a Best Friends training was developed for homes in Hungary with dementia specific care. I was privileged to visit two of these homes, Nazareth in Budapest and Zardakert in Dabas.  A sense of well-being for the residents was immediately evident with residents engaged in life in many ways in both homes.

The courtyard at Zardakert was filled with residents on a beautiful autumn day, how nice to see residents and staff enjoying the out of doors, something that doesn't always happen in the US even on nice days! Persons were "chitchatting," being served lemonade, playing a game of catch, taking walks and enjoying the leaf colors and the last blooms of the outdoor flowers. Others were busy working in groups in the indoor garden, visiting the chapel or basking in the warm sunshine as it streamed through the large windows. 

We were shown a video of persons helping to prepare vegetables and bread making to be used later in the day. It was an "ahha" experience for me, one of the authors of the Best Friends approach, to see our approach in action throughout the journey of Alzheimer's disease. I am grateful to Marika Csoô, the director of Zardakert, and Ani Zsolnay, the activity director for their creative programming and dedication to quality care. They understand the basic tenet of our philosophy that what a person with dementia need most is a Best Friend
to help them feel safe, secure and valued.


Residents of Zardakert making their traditional pogacsa, a type of cheese biscuit.

My hosts did not want me to leave Hungary without seeing their beautiful and historic city of Budapest by day and by night. We wined and dined to Hungarian music in quaint restaurants, visited Parliament, a work of art, worshiped in beautiful St. Stephens Basilica, toured the Royal Palace and Heroes' Square, and savored being along the famous Danube river.

Invincible spirits all over the world are opening new windows daily to improve the quality of care for our friends with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Congratulations to all those invincible spirits in Hungary who are modeling quality care and having fun at the same time.

To contact the program in Hungary email:  endrody@szeretetszolgalat.hu