34 complete First Lady’s Care for the Elderly programme

First Lady Sandra Granger on Monday commended 34 women for successfully completing the Care for the Elderly workshop.
The six weeks’ workshop, organised by the Office of the First Lady in collaboration with the Social Protection Ministry, had three phases: a theory-based aspect, a practical aspect, and a week of First Aid training.
The programme was aimed at developing a corps of caregivers who understand their roles, responsibilities and relationships with their clients, and how to cater to the different needs of their elderly charges.
Delivering the opening remarks at the graduation ceremony, held at the Baridi Benab at State House, the First Lady expressed gratitude to the organisations and individuals who played a pivotal role in ensuring the workshop was executed efficaciously.
She expressed her ultimate goal for these workshops: “It is my dream that we will have day care centres for our seniors and our children in a Regional Democratic Council framework, where people can go to a community development office and our seniors and children can be left there and have all of these activities while the community life takes place among them,” she said.
Information Technology Manager of Hand-In-Hand Trust, Hazel Hannibal, who

delivered the feature address, urged the graduands to be ardent about their delivery of service, and strive to build bonds with their future clients, as it would add value to both their lives and those of their clients.
“I want you to enjoy yourself, enjoy what you will be doing, so that joy will be passed on to your charges…Wherever you may go, around our country or around the world, serve with diligence; serve with excellence; and serve with passion,” she opined.
The workshop’s head facilitator, Hazel Halley-Burnett, who manned the practical and theoretical aspects of the training along with her colleague Ismay Griffith, said that during the course of the programme, participants learnt the essentials of providing care for the elderly.
She said focus was also placed on areas such as identifying the symptoms of a stroke; dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, stress management, diabetes care and management; feeding of seniors, responsibilities of the caregiver, and skills in communicating with the elderly.
Dorothy Fraser, General Secretary of the Guyana Red Cross Society, which facilitated the First Aid aspect of the programme, in giving an overview of that facet of the training, said participants received a crash course in First Aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED). The role of a first-aider, disease transmission and prevention, breathing emergencies, as well as dealing with conscious and unconscious persons were areas also examined.
The certificates received by the graduands are all certified by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), which is accredited locally and regionally. Additionally, the batch also qualified for certification from the Guyana Red Cross Society, which identifies each participant as verified First Aid responders.