In February, the Sonnenhalde Clinic in Basel opens a so-called "hybrid" day clinic. In the future, it will be used primarily by young adults with mental illnesses. Among other things, virtual reality will be used for therapy.
Basel wants to move away from "all-round care", as this is particularly expensive. In figures: One day of treatment in an inpatient clinic costs 700 francs. In a day clinic it costs only half that - because there are no overnight costs. In future, both Basel want to award the service contracts to those psychiatric clinics and hospitals that are willing to work more efficiently, i.e. offer day stays, home therapies and digital therapies.
The Sonnenhalde Clinic is breaking new ground accordingly. Patients spend only every second day in the clinic and practise what they have learned the following day in everyday life. The patients are thus less removed from their social environment. When patients are not in the clinic, they can have video conversations with their therapists and use therapy tools on their tablets. The goal is for patients to be able to spend more and more time outside the day clinic. Which should ultimately also reduce costs.
Virtual reality is also being used.
VR Experience Lab in the day clinic
At the headquarters of the psychiatric clinic in Riehen, VR glasses have already been used in the past to treat phobias such as fear of heights, claustrophobia, sociophobia or fear of spiders. In the "Hybrid Day Clinic", specific VR modules for young adults as well as transdiagnostic exposure modules are being developed in cooperation with specialised companies in the "VR Experience Lab" in addition to established VR offers.
Difficult financing of digital offerings
Erich Seifritz, President of the Swiss Society for Anxiety and Depression (SGAD) and Board Member of the Professional Association of Psychiatrists (SGGP) said in a survey last Year that the lack of tariffs for digital offers is a shortcoming in Switzerland. Germany is already much further along in this respect. If the Sonnenhalde model is successful, however, this project might serve as a model.
Source: Medinside / Sonnenhalde
Deutsch 
Français 
English (UK) 
Italiano