French hospital to open wine bar in bid to improve the lives of terminally ill patients

A hospital in south-central France has come up with an unconventional, not to mention extremely French, idea to try to improve the lives of terminally ill patients. It is to open a wine bar that will offer "medically supervised" wine tasting. The bar, which will open in September, will be located at the palliative care center at the CHU Clermont-Ferrand hospital in Puy-de-Dôme, will be open to patients, their friends and relatives.

Sipping wine may not be a traditional method of treatment for patients who are terminally ill but according to Dr Virginie Guastella, the head of the hospital unit who proposed the idea, it can help them and their loved ones to relax and converse. “A situation can be palliative for several weeks or even several months and it’s because life is so precious and real until the end that we decided to cultivate all that is fine and good,” Dr Guastella said.

“It’s a way of rethinking the care of others, taking into account their feelings and emotions that make them a human being.” The wine bar project was launched, she said, "in an attempt to restore longing, taste, desire and even pleasure.” According to the hospital, “medically supervised” wine tasting can serve to brighten up the otherwise difficult everyday lives of patients.
The wine bar will offer a variety of beverages including fine wines, champagne and whiskey. Staff at the hospital unit will be specially trained in how to deal with the needs of the patients. Dr Guastella points to a study by socio-anthropologist Catherine Legrand Sebille which proves that wine and food and can have a positive impact on someone’s last days. Legrand Sebille herself will also be providing training on this subject for caregivers at the center.