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Department of Acute Care

The inpatient acute care unit is one of the most important parts of the mental health care at the Mental Rehabilitation Center. The inpatient acute care unit helps where outpatient treatment or crisis intervention may not provide sufficient help.

Our first priority is always to make patients feel comfortable and safe. A welcoming attitude and positive motivation is a given for us. Patients can contact our staff at any time, who are always ready to help and work with them.

In the CDR, we divide acute care into wards with lower and higher levels of supervision.

Those wards that treat patients with more severe mental health problems, who therefore need higher supervision, put patient safety first and are designed to minimise the risk of any danger. The programme includes individual and, above all, group therapeutic activities. These include urgent hospital admissions such as acute psychotic conditions, severe depressive difficulties, manic states, acute substance abuse conditions, conditions following suicide attempts and other urgent problems.

Lower level wards are for patients who are already able to engage in an intensive therapeutic programme. This consists mainly of group psychotherapy and complementary therapies, including music therapy, art therapy and drama therapy. Other possible therapeutic methods include advanced neurostimulation techniques using low-intensity direct current stimulation (tDCS) and magnetic current stimulation (rTMS). The structure of the entire therapeutic programme is based on the work of the leading Czech psychiatrist Prof. Ján Praško Pavlov, M.D., Csc.

The main goal of this type of acute care is the basic stabilization of the mental state of patients, and education regarding their further treatment. We try to tailor the treatment plan to each patient to best reflect the specifics and severity of their mental health problems.

Patients are accommodated in double rooms, which have their own sanitary facilities. Each of the patients thus has enough peace and privacy for effective and successful treatment. On the ward they will also find community areas and a special room designed to de-escalate tension and provide an opportunity to release aggression or tension.

In addition, those patients who are referred by their physician may use other CDR facilities such as the swimming pool, fitness center or library as part of their therapy program.

Each day starts with a wake-up call at 7:20. After the morning hygiene, it is time for a warm-up with a story and after that a breakfast combined with the dispensing of medication. This is followed by a rounding session where patients can discuss their health status with the attending physician. There is also a more extensive rounding once a week, which is attended by the CDR Chief Medical Officer. The morning program concludes with a community meeting for all patients and staff.

Patients fill the rest of the morning with therapeutic activities such as physical or creative activities. After these activities, lunch is served along with the dispensing of medication.

The afternoon is then marked by therapy sessions, either group or individual. There is also space for leisure time or visits from relatives. It all depends on the specific treatment plan and the patient's state of health.

The administration of dinner and medication marks the transition of the day into its evening phase. From quarter to eight, a two-hour block runs with relaxation, a community meeting and a club, an activity organised by patients that helps to relax and bring the team together.

Fifteen minutes before ten o'clock, the nightly medication is dispensed. The nightly rest period starts at 10 pm, during which everyone goes to sleep to recharge their batteries for the next day.