Kauno kolegija lecturer received award from the Queen of Sweden
Nurse and lecturer at Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution, Gerda Bukauskaitė-Žiūkienė, has received a distinguished international recognition – she was awarded the Queen Silvia Nursing Award. Her success in the competition came from her proposed idea, ‘Forest in the Box’, which was recognised as a meaningful and innovative solution that could improve the quality of life of people receiving care.
In Lithuania, the competition is organised by the nursing hospital ‘Addere Care’ together with the organisation ‘Swedish Care International’, founded by Queen Silvia of Sweden. All nurses and nursing students in Lithuania are invited to participate by submitting ideas that could improve the quality of life of older people, individuals living with dementia, and patients in care.
The winner is selected by an independent panel of nursing experts. Each year, ‘Addere Care’, which organises the competition in Lithuania, offers the laureates the opportunity not only to meet Queen Silvia of Sweden but also awards a €6,000 prize.
The idea emerged from exploring the impact of nature on human health
The idea came to G. Bukauskaitė-Žiūkienė while searching for an answer to a simple yet very important question: how to help people experience nature if their condition prevents them from going outside independently.
The nurse’s concept is simple but powerful – to bring the sensation of the forest to a person who is bedridden, or to create special ‘forest stations’ in nursing and care homes. These would incorporate natural elements, scents, sounds and various surfaces to help create a calming, sensory-stimulating environment.
‘The idea for ‘Forest in the Box’ came when I began my doctoral studies and started exploring how environmental factors affect the health, emotional state and overall well-being of older people. The more I studied this topic, the clearer it became how powerful – even healing – the environment can be, especially nature,’ says G. Bukauskaitė-Žiūkienė.
Read the full article here (in Lithuanian language)