Yet another Island rest home is crying out for help and public support to improve living conditions for seniors.

Yesterday, Julia Dears, the registered nurse at Pembroke Rest Home told The Royal Gazette the home is suffering from both a critical lack of funding and ongoing staffing problems.

Mrs. Dears said officials from the Health Ministry will be visiting the parish rest home today in order to get a grasp of the scope of its problems.

She said the Pembroke home was ranked third in priority for improvements by the Ministry of Health and Social Services -- after the now-closed St.

George's home and Sandys Rest Home.

"Structurally, we're in much better shape than Sandys,'' said Mrs. Dears of the rest home that was the focus of two recent articles in relation to its rundown and crowded conditions.

After those articles ran, The Royal Gazette received a number of calls claiming that Pembroke Rest Home was in even more dire condition.

But Mrs. Dears said she had recently visited Sandys Rest Home and found that the Pembroke home -- while originally built in the 1600s -- still compares well physically.

But the home does have pressing physical problems, she added. "The wiring needs to be attended to and there are problems with both the plumbing and the flooring,'' she said.

And equally worrying to the physical condition of the home are problems associated with staffing.

Mrs. Dears said the Pembroke Parish Council has been working closely with Minister Nelson Bascome trying to address the shortage of staff at the home which, at maximum capacity, houses 22 seniors.

Mrs. Dears added a combination of a worldwide shortage of nurses and "disenchantment'' within the profession have left rest homes across Bermuda struggling for staff.

She said a switch of emphasis as rest homes are treated more like "businesses'' and less like care facilities has left nurses suffering from chronically low morale.

Nursing should be treated as a "caring profession'' she said, and to recover within Bermuda, the Island will have to start sending students away specifically for the profession.

In the interim, however, seniors are not receiving the best care possible.

As a result, Mrs. Dears said, many seniors feel "invisible'' within society.

The public seems to take little interest in their struggles or conditions at the homes. Unless that changes, conditions are unlikely to improve dramatically, she said.

"The public needs to become involved and demand justice for the elderly just as they would for children,'' she said. "The elderly get shafted because they don't vote. They don't have political clout.'' She feels Government is doing its part and praised the efforts of elderly activists Age Concern, but said the public must act as well.

"The families need to become more involved and come out and support the homes,'' she said. "There must be a public outcry in order to create a catalyst for change.'' The Bermuda public is aging, she pointed out. People are continuing to live longer and longer, but the availability and quality of elderly care is not keeping pace.

At the moment, there are 20 seniors who are residents at the Pembroke Rest Home, but two more are soon to be transferred to the home, which provides palliative care, from Sandys.