neurolife is an innovative space designed for prevention and intervention with people who suffer cognitive decline slight, some neurodegenerative disease -such as Alzheimer’s, Vascular Dementia, Parkinson’s- or Acquired Brain Injury.
Its conception breaks with the classic therapeutic approach of these pathologies to provide a real response to therapeutic and social needs of people with measures such as the creation of El Multiespacio de Terapia y Convivencia (an alternative to day centers and habitual rehabilitators), introducing the family in the process, involving society in the life of the participants and integrating them in the community.
To learn more about this interesting space, we interviewed Sergio Alarcon GonzalezDirector of
How did the idea of starting Neurovida come about?
The idea to launch neurolife It arises from an in-depth analysis of the current care for people with neurodegenerative diseases and acquired brain damage. A tour of the classic day and rehabilitation centers makes us see that the care offered in many of them is not adapted to the needs of diagnosed people and their families.
For this reason, we consider that there must be a significant change in the care model, this being a model that adapts to today’s society, its problems and its people. In addition, this model must integrate the family and the community in the therapeutic process since both are largely forgotten in the current model. For this reason we decided to create The Multispace of Therapy and Coexistencea resource that evolves the current concept of classic day center or rehabilitation.
What makes Neurovida different from other centers specialized in the treatment and care of people with cognitive impairment, neurodegenerative diseases or acquired brain damage?
The main difference is that Neurovida is not a center, it is The Multispace of therapy and Coexistence with all that this entails. Neurovida breaks with the traditional methodology creating a new concept with a different care model. The Therapy and Coexistence Multispace is designed for and is for the people who participate in it.
These people can participate as they decide, we are here to accompany from a professional level and build their new reality with them. Neurovida offers a Multispace with 12 therapy and coexistence spaces specialized and differentiated, a powerful plan of individual and group therapies that work on different areas of the person and an innovative concept, Neurocoexistence, which integrates the family and the community in the therapeutic process while integrating people into society.
In addition to “traditional” therapies, Neurovida promotes emotional work through music, art and the work of Integrative Humanist Psychotherapists. The Neurovida philosophy is based on the Person Centered Care and it is configured as The Multispace free of physical and chemical restraints.
What specific services and treatments do you offer?
Neurovida offers an intense and comprehensive therapy plan, group (in small and homogeneous groups) and individual, aimed at working the cognitive, motor, functional, behavioral, sensory, emotional and social area. These therapies are developed in different specialized spaces (Cognitive Stimulation, Rehabilitation, Adapted Cooking, Art Therapy, Urban Garden, etc.) in the so-called Neurospace.
We also offer a deep emotional labor through Humanist Psychotherapists, as well as a mourning unit, open to families or participating individuals. At Neurovida, we offer different coexistence activities among the Neurovida participants themselves, their families and anyone who wants to participate. In addition, we work with the family, integrating them into the process and making them part of the reality that the entire family nucleus is experiencing.
Finally, comment that real work is done with the participating people so that they do not isolate and stop belonging to society at the same time that it is involved in everything we do and what happens in Neurovida.
What lines of research are you currently working on?
In Neurovida we do therapy, not activities. This implies a systematic work of evaluating the proposed objectives as well as the markers that measure said objectives. The idea is that what is done serves to improve or maintain and for this reason it is important to systematize, develop hypotheses, redefine them if the desired results are not obtained and have a constant evaluation system.
We are also working on a new line of intervention with people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases and acquired brain damage. We talk here about deep emotional work as a new non-pharmacological therapywhich not only improves the emotional well-being of the person, but also improves their personal relationships as well as the way they face the rest of the therapy.
We believe that through this emotional work we can rehabilitate more and better and we can, in the case of a neurodegenerative disease, slow down the progression of the disease much more than at present.
neurolife