Abandonment forces Palms to strengthen entry requirements

Oct 13, 2019 News

In an effort to clamp down on the number of persons abandoning their relatives at the Palms Geriatric Home, the institution has strengthened its entry requirements so as to ensure that overcrowding will not be an issue.
This is according to Dr. Melissa DeHaarte, Coordinator of the Mental Health Unit within the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).
In an interview with Kaieteur News, she stated that for the past years, there have been instances of persons taking their relatives to the Palms for them to be admitted without following the correct procedures and entry process.
“People tend to think that since the Palms was established as a home for elderly persons, anyone can just bring their relatives and leave them here.
“However, that is not true because to be accepted into the Palms Geriatric Home there are several processes you are subjected to.”
She further stated, “When the Ministry of Social Protection or any other department receives a call about an elderly person being abused; the first step is to inform a social worker who will then go to the location to verify the report.
“If it was found that indeed there is an elderly person at the location that is being abused, the matter will then be reported to the police station.”
The Ministry will try to contact other family members of the individual, Dr. DeHaarte revealed.
“If that step proves to be futile, the person will then have to go through a screening process and medical examination so as to ensure that he/she is within the physical entry requirements.”
According to Dr. DeHaarte, after undergoing the physical test and medical examinations it will then be determined if that person is fit for Palms environment or whether they have to be admitted to the hospital or some other medical facility.
Dr. DeHaarte said that at the Palms, there are wheelchair bound persons; persons that use walking aid; persons with hearing disability; persons with visual impairment and other disabilities.
At the Palms, there is also a rehabilitation programme for the residents that would assist with different issues such as depression and desolation.
Also, there is an outpatient and inpatient clinic at the Palms Geriatric Home that is fully equipped with medications that can treat common illnesses and infections.
The outpatient clinic is open to the public whereas the inpatient clinic is only for the residents at the homes.

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