Facilities and services in the elderly homes

Unlike nursing homes and retirement homes that charge monthly residential fees, these homes provide residential services without a fee. They rely enormously on philanthropy of the public and they do not provide nursing services. Hence a basic criteria for admission into these homes is the ability to perform activities of daily living. These elderly homes provided accommodation in either the ward-type accommodation or the twin-sharing accommodation. The twin-sharing accommodation had two people (two beds) in a room, the ward-type accommodation had over two people (over two beds) in a room. In addition, unlike the ward-type, residents in the twin-sharing accommodation can close their door when they need privacy, and they can easily control who goes in and out of their room. On the other hand, the ward-type accommodation was like a large hall with several residents. The size of the homes varied from 16 to 59 beds. The number of staff also varied from 4 to 10. These homes had shared toilets and bathrooms, a kitchen, common dining area for meals, a gathering place for recreational and leisure activities like watching TV, playing cards, listening to music among others. These homes organize routine indoor exercise sessions in the morning and some are fitted with exercise equipment with the stationary bicycle the most common. Medical care is usually provided by volunteers who visit occasionally and are most times limited to physical examination without radiological and laboratory investigations. However these homes when they can afford it endeavor to take residents to hospitals. Occasionally outdoor activities are organized by the homes or volunteers and could include visit to a park, place of worship, or to a local theatre to see a movie. The homes lacked sufficient space for gardens, and wardrobes and libraries were also absent.