JICA improves elderly services in Sri Lanka

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Lecture at Ministry of Public Health in Thailand

Lecture at Sirindhorn Rehabilitation Centre

Sirindhorn Rehabilitation Centre

Feedback seminar

Bang Si Thong day care centre

The Thailand visiting program for the JICA Project for Capacity Enhancement of Elderly Service Management in the Community in Sri Lanka (ProCEES) was conducted from 26 to 31 May with a view to improving elderly services in Sri Lanka.

JICA brought a delegation of 10 officials from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment for this training.

In Thailand, JICA supported the improvement of elderly services from 2007 to 2022. It was explained during the visiting program that Thailand had tackled similar challenges currently experienced by Sri Lanka. It was a great opportunity to discuss lessons learnt in Thailand and how to provide elderly services with available resources.

In Sri Lanka, there is an insufficiency of physical therapists and occupational therapists to provide adequate rehabilitation services in the community. Thailand has been facing a similar challenge; therefore, nurses have been trained and engaged in rehabilitation services in addition to physical therapists and occupational therapists.

To understand how to practically manage challenges, the delegation visited the top referral hospital (i.e., the highest-level medical facility to which patients who cannot be handled by lower-level medical facilities are transported). At the Sirindhorn National Medical Rehabilitation Institute, human resource development has also been a focus, in addition to providing higher-level medical care. A six-month training program is being conducted for nurses to provide rehabilitation services in the community.

In addition, the delegation visited the city of Bang Si Thong, where caregivers are mobilized to provide rehabilitation services. This countermeasure was undertaken as a unique initiative commencing in the city.

At the feedback seminar held after their return to Sri Lanka, the participants commented: “Based on what we learnt in Thailand, we are determined to improve rehabilitation services in the community. We are going to visit the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital Ragama, a higher-level medical facility in Sri Lanka, to compare current services with those in Thailand and to consider what kind of services we can provide for the elderly. ProCEES will last for seven more months before it comes to an end, and we would like to make the most of what we have learnt in Thailand to improve elderly services as much as possible.”