Soon, Porto will have a new Neuropsychiatry and Mental Health Center. A project that took into consideration the impact of spaces on patients, prioritizing natural light, comfort, and a peaceful environment while ensuring their safety, privacy, and dignity.
Let’s talk about the history, specialties and services offered by CSSC.
CSSC – Santa Catarina Health House has been in operation since 1932. Its target audience includes individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders across all age groups. CSSC provides care through a multidisciplinary team of experts in this field, incorporating various areas of expertise, including psychiatry, child psychiatry, psychology, specialized nursing, neurology, General and Family Medicine, occupational therapy, among others. Services are offered in different settings, such as specialized and subspecialty consultations, inpatient care, and day hospital/psychosocial rehabilitation center, all catering to different age groups. Within its consultations, CSSC’s activities encompass assessment, diagnosis, and the formulation of therapeutic strategies for mental health disorders, as well as interventions aimed at promoting mental health and preventing illness. Regarding inpatient care, CSSC offers services for both long-term residents and acute cases. The long-term resident segment typically deals with neurodegenerative disorders (dementia) in older patients, while the acute segment provides treatment for various acute psychiatric conditions, regardless of age.
For the new CSSC, there are plans to establish initiatives related to research and education, including the creation of a “Training and Research Department” with connections to academia and educational institutions, both nationally and internationally. Notable investments are reserved for virtual reality applications, particularly in the areas of anxiety/phobias and neurocognitive remediation for dementia. Additionally, there will be a new department for neuromodulation, encompassing neurofeedback, biofeedback, and transcranial magnetic stimulation, which will complement the existing electroconvulsive therapy services.
What is the importance and impact of the new project that IOL Saude is specifically developing for CSSC?
The CSSC has been constrained by its physical structure. Space limitations have prevented the expansion of services or the creation of new ones to address current challenges and ensure alignment with best practices and scientific knowledge. It is a beautiful period house surrounded by magnificent gardens, but it remains architecture that doesn’t meet the demands and needs of the present and the future. The new project that IOL is developing overcomes these obstacles and, above all, ensures that the high quality of mental healthcare that characterizes the clinical project of CSSC is aligned with identical parameters of excellence at the structural level where they are provided.
What are the benefits of integrating outdoor spaces in psychiatric clinics?
The concern for integrating outdoor spaces into the treatment of psychiatric issues is not a recent development. An example of this is the Conde de Ferreira Hospital, inaugurated in 1883, which was built on a spacious estate with each ward having access to extensive gardens. Today, the benefits of connecting with nature and fresh air for health are undeniable. In fact, the “Biophilia Theory” argues that the relationship with nature is fundamental for the well-being and physical and mental health of human beings.
The new CSSC seeks to take advantage from all the knowledge that has been produced in this field, not only for the benefit of patients but also for employees and family members. There will be designated areas for a variety of occupational and rehabilitation activities, such as physical activity, gardening, and reading. These spaces will also serve as a welcoming area for receiving visits from friends and family or for breaks for staff members.
What are the key architectural elements that can contribute to the creation of an optimal therapeutic environment for CSSC?
In addition to the previously mentioned green spaces, it’s important to consider aspects such as colors, textures, dimensions, materials, views, among others, so that the interior spaces also promote recovery and well-being and are tailored to the different activities/interventions they are intended for. In the field that CSSC is dedicated to, ensuring patient safety is essential, with a range of distinctive measures, including windows with limited opening, ensuring secure and effective access control, among others.
What are the main challenges that need to be considered in the architecture?
One of the key challenges is to transform a clinical, cold, and impersonal hospital environment into a warm and welcoming one that feels like home. This transformation must be achieved without compromising the medical needs and patient safety, ensuring the effectiveness of interventions. It’s also important to create differentiated and autonomous spaces and circuits within the same structure, allowing for more specific actions. That’s why each floor of the new CSSC has a living and dining room in addition to all the shared common services on the ground floor.
This is an innovative facility that brings together various healthcare specialties in Portugal. To what extent can it contribute to positioning our country at the forefront of national and international best practices?
CSSC has been an innovative project for 91 years. What we aim to do is nothing more than to honor this legacy and give it a new dimension with the capabilities provided by the new structure. With a facility that allows services to align with current and emerging challenges and the assurance of an excellent technical team, the conditions are in place for us to position ourselves at the forefront of the best national and international practices, forging our own path, as we have been doing since 1932.