The Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) Community Centre for the Elderly in Al Mamzar is set to receive a facelift with an expansion plan costing Dh5 million ($1.4 million).

The expansion is aimed at providing interaction with the community and integrated healthcare service for geriatric patients, said a statement. It will be completed before the end of next year.

The facility has been renamed the ‘Family Gathering Centre’ as per directives from DHA’s director-general Essa Al Maidoor, as part of the overall facelift, it said.

Al Maidoor said: “The expansion plan for the elderly centre is part of the Dubai Health Strategy 2013-2025. The plan for the centre includes taking care of all aspects of our geriatric patients and providing them with health, social and physiological support. Integration with members of society and excellence in health services has been central themes in planning the expansion.”

“To facilitate regular interaction with the members of the elderly centre and the community, the expansion project will include a heritage market with coffee shops and traditional fanfare activities and a mosque,” he said.

“The mosque will have a capacity for 150 worshippers. The heritage market will bring back memories of life in the old days in the UAE and the elderly population will also get an opportunity to interact with the community. Youngsters who come to visit the elderly members in their family will see ample landscaped areas and green lawns,” he added.

Al Maidoor pointed out that the authority is working on developing several initiatives which will help enhance geriatric care in the emirate.

“Instead of expecting the elderly patients to step out of their homes and come to clinics for treatment, the aim is to build a strong network of mobile geriatric clinics, so that our team of geriatricians can visit patients in the comfort of their homes and provide them with medical, physiotherapy and rehabilitation services.”

“In addition to this, we plan to build more centres in other areas of Dubai so that the elderly have easy access that not only provide excellent geriatric services but also have several community driven initiatives for the elderly.”

Currently, the centre has 30 in-patients and 50 out-patients. “The centre provides a host of services for geriatric patients including physiotherapy, memory training, cognitive therapy, medication to treat co-morbidities, rehabilitation, physiological counselling and all forms of geriatric care to ensure the elderly are well taken care of. The centre also has a snoezelen room, which is the first-of-its-kind in the region for treating elderly patients.” - TradeArabia News Service