“People often tell me that it’s brave of me to work here. They always think that there are ‘crazies’ in Malévoz”, laughs Elsa Maria, who has been working for six years as a housekeeper for Institutions psychiatriques du Valais romand. “But it’s patients that we have here, and they are being treated. As far as I’m concerned, there are far more ‘crazies’ outside…”
Elsa Maria arrived from Portugal shortly after her husband moved here seven years ago, and had not in any way been planning to work in a hospital, let alone a psychiatric one. “I heard that there was a position available when I was working for a baker’s in Champéry”. Now, she has found her place at Malévoz: “I love what I do, the days fly by”.
Elsa Maria starts her day at 7 in the morning, together with her three colleagues from the ‘Le Laurier’ wing. Preparing breakfast, visiting the rooms, cleaning, receiving the lunches, washing up, deep cleaning if there is time for it – they’re never short of tasks to carry out up to the end of the day’s work, just before 15:30. And what might look like a routine isn’t really one. “Aside from our daily tasks, which are assigned by the Head Housekeeper, we never really know what to expect”.
Indeed, housekeepers spend a lot of time with the patients – even more than the medical and nursing staff. “Some patients are constantly following us and like to talk. I try to tell stories, to make them laugh a bit. And it often works”, enthuses Elsa. This social role is acknowledged as being very important, and the housekeepers regularly receive training to learn how to act, react and talk appropriately to the residents in their wing.
Over days and stays, bonds are created and provide a change from the day-to-day routine. But this can also give rise to difficulties. “At first, I found it hard to keep my work and my private life separate”, she remembers. “In the ‘Rocher’ wing (ed.: housekeepers change wing every two years), I would sometimes dance with the elderly patients, they would tell me little stories. You get attached to them, and it’s always painful to see them in the obituaries page of the newspaper. Now I deal with this better, although there are still some situations that break my heart, like seeing young adults staying here”, sighs this mother of two girls. “I remember a young woman who was around twenty years old. Every morning, she would leave a little note in a notebook for us, to thank us. She was lovely, and we would also respond by writing a little note. One day when I had time off, I learnt that she had died. I cried about it”.
In these difficult situations, our housekeepers can talk to a specialist. “This helps us not to bring everything home”. Or to only remember the good things, of which there are many if Elsa Maria’s smile is anything to go by. She is proud of herself, and gives thanks “every day” for the fact that she came to Malévoz six years ago.