Harbour View residents receive holistic care

In addition to being catered to physically during an annual health fair hosted on Saturday by the Seaview Chapel in Harbour View, St Andrew, in collaboration with the Lions Club of St Andrew, persons were able to receive emotional and spiritual support where needed.

Dr Paulette Francis McGregor, past president of the Lions Club, noted that the aim was to target more than 100 persons, offering blood sugar and blood pressure checks, and eye testing, in addition to giving persons glasses, if needed.

"We come together as a group because it is a service club and we give back in whatever way we can, based on our own background and socialisation and where we are able to give. Sometimes we give advice to persons socially, intellectually, emotionally and otherwise," she told The Gleaner.

"Some persons, they come and they are supposed to be on medication and they are not taking their medications; and when you enquire, they can't afford the medication or they just simply forget. So when we hear all of these things, we give them some sort of guidance," she said.

FAMILY SITUATIONS

The doctor continued: "We have some who come with family situations, we try to advise them as well and send them to the other institutions, such as the Child Development Agency and others."

Suzette Gayle-McGregor, head of the Social Consult Committee at Seaview Chapel, told The Gleaner that it was important that the church is able to touch the lives of persons outside its walls, and indicated that it targeted persons from communities such as Caribbean Terrace and as far away as Bull Bay, St Andrew.

"It's an initiative by the church to the community; it's like an outreach programme. This year, we managed to offer pap smear and we just ask for a minimum of $500. If you don't have it, you still get your pap smear done," she said.