Three wellness clinics for seniors are scheduled to be open in just over three weeks.

During a Press conference on Government?s Social Agenda, Acting Health Minister Walter Lister (pictured) said the wellness clinics would open on April 1. Plans for a home assessment service for seniors is also scheduled to come online by the beginning of April, Mr. Lister said. That service will inspect the senior?s home to see what measures can be taken to help keep seniors living independently at home, he said, increasing their quality of life.

The wellness clinics to be opened in Somerset, Hamilton and St. George?s are not intended to replace a person?s primary physician, Mr. Lister said. Services to be provided include blood pressure testing, functional assessment, osteoporosis screening and prevention, low vision screening, cholesterol and sugar testing.

?The focus is not on primary care, but prevention,? Mr. Lister said. Headway has been made in the Community Areas Programme (CAP) also, he said, with a Community Beat Officer lined up to work with the pilot programme in Hamilton Parish, and committees formed in most parishes with two part-time administrative assistants hired.

A Parish Rest Homes Board has been formed to act as a liaison between parish councils running the rest homes and the Department itself. The Board will administer the rest homes and residential care facilities, co-ordinate the administration of those facilities, and make recommendations to the Ministry regarding development and long-term services. Drafting instructions have been forwarded to the Attorney General?s Chambers, with the Bermuda Hospitals Board legislation proposed as a draft model.