A Hospice With Chefs and a Wine Bar
Dr. Virginie Guastella is the chief of the palliative care unit at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital (CHU) in south-central France, and she strongly believes in the power of hospice comfort foods. In fact, Clermont-Ferrand may be the only hospital in the world with a wine bar set up specifically for the patients. Neuroscience research shows that feelings of fulfillment and the will to live is closely linked to the pleasure region of the brain. And wine is especially adept at lighting up that area because of the pleasant flavors, good company, and happy situations that often come with it.
Studies into palliative care are confirming what Guastella has been preaching all along: Providing simple pleasures can facilitate a happier end. For example, she ensures the wine is of good quality. “Why, because you are hospitalized, do the good things have to be stopped?” she says to Popular Science. Although she doesn’t want her patients to drink a lot, she knows that providing drinks they had enjoyed for years can help them maintain a sense of dignity and normalcy.
