PHILIPSBURG:---- On Saturday September 12th, 2015 Sint Maarten observed Caribbean Wellness Day. A day established by Caricom since 2007 for awareness and promotion of physical activity through the nation.
This year’s Caribbean Wellness Day focusses on the elderly with the theme: “improving the quality of life of the region’s ageing population”. In light of this theme the Ministry of VSA, the Windward Island Physical Therapist Association (WIPTA), and the White and Yellow Cross Foundation came together to organize a day of activities in St John’s Estate.
The focus is on person’s, 60 years of age and older. There will be a variety of sports activities and the participant will be tested on their level of physical abilities by the WIPTA. Due to weather conditions this day was postponed from September 12thto September 19th ,2015.
The District Nursing is a department of the White and Yellow Cross Foundation. The nurses working in this department are the ones who take care of the clients in their home environment. The client is therefore able to stay at his or her own home environment by receiving care customized to their needs.
What is striking within the District Nursing client population is the increasing amount of clients who suffer from diabetes and hypertension. At this moment about 60 % of our clients are diabetics and about 70 % suffer from hypertension. In most cases it’s a combination of both diabetes and hypertension. Results from research show that regular exercise and weight loss have a positive effect on both diabetes and hypertension. Therefore the District Nursing supports and is involved in the Caribbean Wellness Day celebration on the 19th this month.
The District Nursing team serves an average of 150 clients per week. The care varies from support with a daily bath, to wound care, to medication and vital signs controls. We also provide care to clients that are terminally ill. A fairly new product is homecare. This entails care to clients who need support with light cleaning in the house, cooking, laundry and the homecare nurse can transport the client to the doctor’s office. When requested, the homecare nurse also runs errands and does the grocery shopping for the client.
If you would like to receive some information on the services provided by the District Nursing Department of the White and Yellow Cross Foundation you can e-mail to the following address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We can also be reached via telephone on: +1721-5819657 and you are always welcome to pass by our office situated in the Sint Martin’s Home in St John’s Estate.
