Transition House – The first model in Vietnam

“This house is very convenient, all items are located at a low level, which is suitable for wheelchair users, so I could use them easily. In the transition house, I had chances to practice daily tasks such as cooking rice, picking vegetables, washing dishes, transferring from my wheelchair to my bed, etc. Hence, when I got home, I adapted to my routine quite quickly,” saidDang ThiNgoc Son, a patientandalso a persons with a disability, after staying in the Transition house in Phu Vang District Medical Center, Thua Thien – Hue Province.

The Transition House is also known as a rehabilitation model before returning to community, a missing piece which helps connect and promote the efficiency of rehabilitation in hospitals and community-based rehabilitation.  Combining physical access and health care, the Transition House simulates a normal house fully equipped with rooms and items for daily activities. By creating a “home-like” environment for practice, it helps patients and persons with disabilities familiarize themselves, adapt, and live independently before re- integrating into the community. Transition House development is supported by USAID’s “Raising Voices, Creating Opportunities” project.

Regarding the construction of the Transition House, Minh Tam, ACDC’s projectcoordinator, said: “After coming up with the idea of building such a model, we (ACDC and experts) spent a lot of time studying the documents. However, it was not enough. We continued to directly visit other models in other countries and discuss with hospital directors, doctors and technicians who are experienced in therapeutic activities and independent living in these countries. In Thailand and Singapore, the names of the models are different: “Toward Independent Living Room”, “Independent Living Room”, “Independent Living House”, etc. In addition to learning from countries with developed medical systems, we consulted the Practice Room for Therapeutic Activities model developed at Hai Duong Medical Technical University. All of these are valuable materials for us to develop the Transition House model.”

The development and use of the Transition House in hospitals has gone through different stages, from developing the model, developing the criteria for selecting medical facilities, conducting field surveys, and discussing with local hospitals, to supervising the construction, renovating and putting into use. All stages were performed based on the full agreement among Project Management Units, Provincial Departments of Health, medical centers and hospitals. In Quang Tri Province, Quang Nam Province and Thua Thien – Hue Province, four provincial and district health facilities were selected as locations of the model.

The Transition House idea was gradually transformed into reality. Although the construction did not go smoothly all the time, the staff managed to follow the design. Close supervision was required to ensure all requirements were met, and 100% of the local Transition Houses were completed, fulfilling the following criteria: slope, door width, corridor width, kitchen counter height, dining table height, clear space, etc. It was this construction that changed local construction companies’ awareness of accessibility. It was the first time that they carried out projects which ensure full accessibility to persons with disabilities, with characteristic and creative details. A lot of them designed items that were not available on the market, such as alarm lights, cabinet handles and light switches, by themselves after many discussions and trials. Some project management staff said that they would memorize and apply these requirements for accessibility when the run other projects.

With counterparts’ efforts, the Transition House model has gradually formed. From December 2019 to July 2020, four Transition Houses in Phu Vang District Medical Center, Phong Dien District (in Thua Thien– Hue Province), Quang Tri Province Traditional Medicine and Rehabilitation Hospital and Thang Binh District Medical Center (in Quang Nam Province) started to operate. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s great impacts, these Houses have received more than 100 patients and persons with disabilities for inpatient and outpatient treatment after more than a year in operation.

The model not only assists the process of integrating into the community of patients and persons with disabilities, but also helps their families and themselves understand clearly what needs improving in their living environment so that persons with disabilities can optimize their daily activities. Thanks to practical experience in an accessible and appropriate environment, patients and their families have a better understanding of necessary factors that allow them to reduce burdens and be as independent as possible.

With initial positive results, the Transition House model has been recognized by the Ministry of Health and health facilities to be effective for patients and persons with disabilities. Commitments to replicate the model in pilot provinces and requests from other provinces have once again proved this model to be a success in Vietnam.