Canadian Group Trains Caregivers For Disabled Persons
Training concluded today for caregivers of persons living with disabilities. A Canadian group, Healing Hands, has been in Belize working along with the Belize Assembly of Persons with Diverse Abilities to equip those who provide care and attention to the vulnerable population. Using the proper techniques in times of emergency is critical in preventing further harm to those affected. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Are you a person with a disability? Do you know someone with a disability? If the answer to either is yes; the Belize Assembly of Persons with Diverse Abilities, is providing caregivers and others with the skills necessary to assist elderly persons as well as children living with a disability. BAPDA President, Roxanne Marin, says that the training is being facilitated by the Canadian group Healing Hands.
Roxanne Marin
Roxanne Marin, President, BAPDA
“Three trainers started out on Monday; they covered things like seizures, stroke prevention, fall prevention; care of wounds and really in depth. It’s a team of professional doctors from Canada; they come once a year to do partnership with BAPDA and other N.G.O.s. And so Monday and Tuesday was the training of trainers and Wednesday and Thursday, we’ve been training twenty caregivers from different organizations within Belize. One of our primary partners in this training right now is the Port Loyola Organization for Women. They have a caregiver program that they have at least twenty-five caregivers that facilitate elderly and persons with disabilities on south side of Belize City. And so this training is imperative in them assisting their clients in giving better services when it comes to medical terms that they were probably not trained before.”
The training provides participants with the knowhow in dealing with persons found in distress. Normally, 911 is called; but there are initial steps that can be taken by a caregiver even before paramedics arrive on the scene. Caregiver Eider Teul, who works primarily with the elderly says that he’s learning techniques to ensure that how he manages an emergency doesn’t cause more harm than good.
Eider Teul
Eider Teul, Caregiver
“Workshop was basically on holistic approach in care giving with different patients—seizures, stroke, heart attack, dementia and other different situations where we need to, us caregivers, find difficult in dealing with the situation we are in. So I think this workshop was very good in bettering off the work we do at elderly homes, homes or wherever other health institutions we are put or we are working in.”
Today, certificates were issued to the participants from the Council of Ageing, Stella Maris School, Cancer Society and Plow as well as community workers, who serve as individual caregivers.
Verie Vassel
Verie Vassel, Trainee
“Since I work at Stella Maris, I have been a caregiver for about eight years now. So now that I’ve almost mastered dealing with these children, this workshop—mastering care giving—is catered to older persons. And in a sense, the same way I deal with my children, I could take that same approach dealing with these older persons because whenever they have a type of dementia, they are like a child all over again. So I can relate to these older people as if they were my students. So I am very proud that they chose me to be one of the trainers to train caregivers that we have in Belize because even though we are caregivers, we don’t have all of the information. And there are a lot of studies happening and team Canada just brought all these light and shed on Belize.”
According to BAPDA, there are a lot of elderly persons that are shut-ins and there is need for more persons to be trained to assist this vulnerable group. Duane Moody for News Five.
