Castries area caregivers receive infection prevention training

By  Fernelle Neptune, Ministry of Health

Home help caregivers in the Castries basin were the most recent recipients of training sessions on infection prevention and control measures aimed at providing them with the tools to perform their daily duties safely.

Health Educator in the Bureau of Health Education, Mrs. Janelle Alexander-Dupre, said it is important for caregivers receive this knowledge on infection prevention and control, so as to ensure they remain healthy for themselves and their clients.

“The caregivers were the target group because they deal with vulnerable groups. They deal with the elderly and the differently-abled whose immune systems tend to be weaker, and because of that, their rates of infection are higher. So with learning infection control measures, they are able to break that cycle, enabling the persons to be healthy continuously.”

Supervisor of the Castries (north) home help caregivers program, Jamila Charles, said the training sessions serve as a refresher for the caregivers.

“On a day to day basis we care for elderly persons who are immunocompromised, and you find we come into contact with a lot of bacteria, germs, and viruses on a daily basis. So it is important for us to get refreshers every now and then to remind us of the importance of processes like proper hand hygiene and protecting both ourselves and the clients.”

Mrs. Alexander-Dupre said the infection prevention and control training focused not only on COVID-19, but also emphasized other diseases.

“We discussed monkeypox and other infections that spread, like e-coli. There are many different bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can affect our health.”

Among other areas of focus discussed were sanitation, and infection transmission, to name a few.