Health and Wellness Centre for Golden Age Home

The management of the Golden Age Home in Kingston is seeking to establish a health and wellness centre at its Vineyard Town premises, to boost treatment and care provided to the 453 persons residing at the institution.

“This health and wellness facility will be able to provide our residents with numerous services,” said General Manager of the home, Laurette Adams-Thomas, at a Christmas fair held recently at the facility.

“We are looking at a medical arm of it where we will have emergency services and minor surgeries. We will be able to have special doctors in place, who will provide hands-on care to the residents depending on the needs that they have at the time,” she informed further.

Other features include a medical laboratory, nutrition services for the aged, and a daycare facility.

“We have discovered that a number of persons do not necessarily want to be institutionalized. So we want to have a daycare facility where you can actually have your family members come at this facility, and you pick them up in the evenings,” Mrs. Adams-Thomas said.

Chairman of the Home, Fabian Brown, informed that a learning programme will be also undertaken.

“We have a Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) programme that we are starting. We need some volunteers to teach Math, English, and whichever subject that you are comfortable with. Let us know your time, and we will work around your time. We have residents here who want to advance themselves academically, and there are a number of ways in which you can participate in what we do,” Mr. Brown noted.

To help fund the projects, persons in Jamaica and overseas are actively involved in fundraising events.

On February 15, 2014, there will be a Reggae Valentine concert at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in Kingston; a benefit play will be held at Centre Stage on April 8; a banquet at King’s House in May; and a gospel concert on October 26 at a venue to be announced.

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Derrick Kellier, welcomed the plans for the home’s development, and pledged the Ministry’s support in realizing the goals.

“We are lifting the Golden Age Home to a level so that it becomes a beacon of hope to many more across the Caribbean and the world,” he stated.

The Golden Age Home is a Government-owned facility established to provide residential care for the indigent elderly of the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew.

The home is a key element in the safety net strategy devised by the Ministry, to protect the most vulnerable in the society.