Did you know that Socios En Salud implemented the first Protected Home in the city of Lima, with the aim of housing mentally disabled women between 18 and 65 years of age in vulnerable situations to be reintegrated into society? That’s right!
”I was nervous, I couldn’t tell reality from fantasy”, said one of the beneficiaries of the Protected Home.
In Peru, it is estimated that there are 295 thousand people with permanent limitations in relating to others due to difficulties in their thoughts, feelings, emotions or behaviors. Likewise, every year on average, 20.7% of the population over 12 years of age suffers from some type of mental disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health Honorio Delgado - Hideyo Noguchi
At Socios En Salud, we are aware of the importance of enjoying a fully healthy life. That is why our goal as an organization is to offer health care from the preferential option through respect for human rights, for which it is required to build an articulated system of comprehensive care to meet the needs of recovery, one of these being the social and family integration.
Thinking of this vulnerable population, since 2015, in coordination with the Instituto Nacional de Salud Mental Honorio Delgado - Hideyo Noguchi (INSM HD-HN) of the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and with the support of the Centro de Salud Mental Comunitario Municipal de Carabayllo and the Municipality of Carabayllo, we have developed the implementation and operation of the first Protected Home, a space where the user with schizophrenia can assume household responsibilities and demonstrate that disability is not incapacity.
“I remember the first night Susana slept in the home. She didn’t know a bed, even though we told her she had to sleep in a horizontal position, she would always go back to sitting up, even going so far as to adopt a fetal position. After several weeks we managed to get him to sleep in the most comfortable way. We are a family and we always encourage good treatment, bonds of respect, love and trust,” said one of the caregivers of the Sheltered Home.
The Hogar Protegido houses 6 women with mental health problems who are medically discharged and in a condition of family abandonment and 6 caregivers (community health agents) considered as members of their family, who care for them and ensure compliance with their medication, physical and emotional well-being 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 12 months a year. The caregivers have been previously trained in the detection and early management of alarm symptoms (suicidal ideation, depression, panic, hallucinations, extravagant behaviors, mental health disorders and psychiatry. Always under the advice, accompaniment, training and monitoring of a multidisciplinary team of doctors, psychologists, nurses, among others from Socios En Salud and INSM HD-HN.
This family house has spacious, light and airy rooms (bedrooms, bathrooms, study room, kitchen, among others) and includes basic services (food, water, electricity, telephone, cable and internet), and clothing according to the season and culture.
The food is monitored directly by the nutritionist who is in charge of providing weekly menu suggestions, since some of the residents suffer from diabetes and others are overweight.
The Hogar Protegido has a first aid kit; however, to ensure emergency care for any health problem, the residents have Comprehensive Health Insurance (SIS). Therefore, the Sheltered Home is located very close to the Carabayllo Municipal Community Mental Health Center, La Flor Health Facility and the Sergio E. Bernales Hospital. Additionally, the team of health professionals periodically visits and exchanges experiences, opinions and provides recommendations on the functioning and dynamics of the residents and caregivers of the home through workshops that address topics related to mental health care such as: autonomy, basic daily living skills, social skills, stress management, coexistence, personal self-care, management of conflict situations among others.
The psychologist and coordinator of the Mental Health Program of Socios En Salud, Margot Aguilar indicated that this population is highly discriminated by society. This scenario, constitutes a social barrier that hinders and limits housing options. “At best they barely receive psychopharmacological support. Many of them, are linked to situations of lack, economic and social unprotection, and may end up on the streets,” he pointed out.
Integration of productive activities key factor for reintegration into society
At the Sheltered Home it has been evidenced that this model of residence not only allows living in a dignified, safe and healthy environment, but also fosters spaces for strengthening individual and social skills, with the aim of achieving reintegration into the community.
As part of the activities that benefit their development in future life, instrumental activities thatinvolve the ability to make decisions and solve everyday problems are carried out, for example: the ability to use the telephone, shopping and basic household chores (making their bed, washing dishes, etc.), washing their clothes, managing their medications among others, all guided by the caregivers.
Similarly, activitiesoccupational activities such as the preparation of chocotejas, balloon decorations, trupan handicrafts, pyrography arts, use of recycled materials, among others, are carried out. In this way, the materials produced are offered for sale at events organized by the Municipality of Carabayllo and the community, and such income serves as savings for residents to purchase priority items for them. In addition, through the Partners In Health Income Generation program, training is provided in the care and distribution of resources.
Through partnerships with educational institutions, promotion centers and institutes, the residents of the Sheltered Home participate in educational activities that allow them to develop their cognitive functionality, since many of them have not been able to complete their studies, due to deteriorating health, being inserted in the Alternative Basic Education Centers (CEBA) and the Technical Productive Education Center (CETPRO). Likewise, through the Municipal Office of Attention to Persons with Disabilities (OMAPED), the residents attend cultural events according to their preferences and expectations (dance, theater, singing).
Thus, the experience of Socios En Salud in the operation of the Protected Home has become a replicable, sustainable and extensible model for the implementation of 235 Protected Homes nationwide led by the Ministry of Health that can improve the quality of life of people diagnosed with schizophrenia in vulnerable situations.
Aguilar highlighted not only the social benefits provided by the operation of the Sheltered Home, but also the economic ones.“It costs the State approximately S/200 per day to hospitalize in a health facility a person with mental illness in a condition of medical discharge and family abandonment, whereas in a Protected Home the cost is S/60 soles on average, tripling the capacity for reintegration into society”
For these reasons, in 2016 Socios En Salud transferred the Hogar Protegido service to the Municipality of Carabayllo and the INSM HD-HN with the aim of joining efforts and committing to sustaining the service, sharing operating expenses and maintaining concerted actions between the institutions.
Since 2017, Socios En Salud has been awarded the good pro for the administration of the resources of the Hogar Protegido until 2020. That same year, the Hogar Protegido is renamed Servicio de Cuidado Residencial (SCR), so designated by INSN HD-HN. To date, the Protected Home in Carabayllo has allowed 6 of its residents, to be reintegrated into society; ensuring their self-care, quality of life and independence.
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