Community Chest Durban support numerous NPOs whose sole mission is to make their beneficiaries feel supported, cared for, loved and secure in their old age. Verulam Day & Frail Care Centre, which has been a lifeline to the elderly for almost 40 years, is one of those Community Impact Partners that Community Chest is proud to partner with.
Uncertainty is the reality for an aged person – a mixture of sad and joyful memories, of losses and gains but most of all of hope that the remaining years could be spent in peace and tranquillity and free from want. The search for this security is why the Verulam Day & Frail Care Centre was founded in 1983.
The story of the founders and their vision is always underpinned by the desire to establish a permanent pillar of hope for those in their twilight years. From humble beginnings, the Centre has grown, and its dedicated and loyal staff members work closely with their equally dedicated management team in a bid to keep their levels of service at an optimum. They strive to ensure the quality of life for their permanent residents and the elderly who visit the Centre on a daily basis for medical attention, stimulation and companionship.
The Centre has a holistic and preventative approach to the ‘active aging’ and promotes opportunities for health, participation, and security. The service Centre provides the elderly with primary health care and social relief services with the aim of providing the stability and hope they are desperately looking for.
These services include:
- Frail Care Centre – is a nursing home for the aged and accommodates patients from Verulam, Stanger, Tongaat, Phoenix, Durban, Richards Bay, Port Shepstone and other areas.
- Medical Care – provides individualised health care for chronic physical disabilities (strokes, amputees, etc.) and conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and senile dementia. In addition, a team of specialists attend to the patients on a regular basis – a Speech Therapist, a Reflexologist, and a Counsellor.
- Day Care Facility – each day provides a range of activities and programmes which stimulate the elderly physically, mentally and socially. For example, preparation of vegetables, exercise, games, prayer, newspaper reading and discussion, religious and cultural programmes, socialising, TV viewing including educational programmes and documentaries, story hour, book swopping, dancing, quiz show, board games etc.
- Geriatric Clinic – a one-stop medical facility for the aged was opened at the Centre in August 2003. The Clinic was made possible through the Centre’s engagement with the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, the Ethekwini Municipality and the Department of Health and Welfare.
- Clubs – Stroke Club, Cancer Support Group and Diabetes Support Club provide support to those who have been affected as well as their families.
- Social Work Services – the Centre plays a major role in helping the aged become self-reliant within a caring and supportive environment. Social Workers plan and implement various professional services on the basis of prevention, maintenance and restoration programmes and render supportive aid and counselling.
Community Chest Durban salutes all their NPO Impact Partners involved in supporting the elderly, many of whom have contributed significantly to their families and communities over the years and deserve to be cherished in their old age.
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw