Kirsten Deetman

My father isn't much of a talker, at least not about feelings. When he ended up in the hospital with a heart attack, we talked about everything. The drawings on the whiteboards, who had sent cards, whether the food was good, who said hello. We talked about everything, but not about how everyone was on the verge of collapse inside, or about how terrifying the operation was, or the details of what it entailed. When he came home after the surgery, we all hobbled along, dealing with practical matters, working, caring, but we didn't really talk about it. Because, how are things really going?

Souvenirs

Visitors came over. They asked about the pillow he clutched to his chest when he coughed. He told me about sawing through his breastbone and that it was tender. My grandfather noticed something that looked familiar to him from the operation he'd had some 25 years earlier, and they started talking about their hospital experience. The items connected to the hospital suddenly allowed him to talk about it. They became souvenirs: items that held a memory.

Coping

Approximately 2.9 million Dutch people are hospitalised annually. Various studies show that talking about negative emotional experiences, such as being sick, can have a positive effect. It helps with the healing process. But what if you're not a talker? If you don't spontaneously bring up the experiences you had there? With my work, Souvenir Apotheek (Souvenir Pharmacy), I want to offer patients and former patients a tool. The opportunity to take something home, perhaps to make talking a little easier, or to give the memory a place.

Souvenir Apotheek

Souvenir Apotheek is a souvenir shop in the hospital. This shop offers all kinds of items connected to the hospital. These include practical souvenirs such as printed support stockings, medicine bags, cards that patients can send back from the hospital, or a cough pillow for painful coughing after surgery. There are also standard souvenirs, but these are connected to the hospital. Perhaps a child would like a cuddly heart to explain where they had their surgery, a magnet for their lungs on the refrigerator, bingo cards for the hospital, and much more. Thanks to the extensive collection, every patient who wishes can choose where to put their hospital mementoes. For all those who aren't talkative or want to preserve their memories.