Elderly people, even those with nobody to care for them, can still look forward to a life of comfort and ease with the assistance of trained caregivers.
The Saint Maria Josefa Home for the Aged in Malate is a new residential facility that provides services designed to meet the specific needs of the elderly and helps to keep them healthy, active and independent, while ensuring their comfort.
Formally opened in January this year, the home is managed by nuns from the order of Religious Sisters of Servants of Jesus of Charity (Siervas de Jesus) and supported by a local non-government organization — Sociedad Española de Beneficencia (SEB).
The modern facility has 50 rooms, most of them for single occupancy and the rest for twin sharing. Each room is air-conditioned and has its own bathroom.
Led by an administrator, Sr. Sagrario Montuenga, and a superior, St. Maritza Bueno, eight nuns run the home, with the help of a laundry woman, cook, maintenance staff, and two security guards. About a dozen nursing students from the San Juan de Dios Hospital visit twice a week to provide additional care to residents.
The home is almost self-contained with a gymnasium; recreation room where residents can watch television, play board games or read, laundry, beauty parlor, and a chapel where Holy Mass is celebrated on weekends. There is also a medical consultation room and nurses/ station where two doctors retained by SEB attend regularly to the residents’ needs.
Occupational therapy services are also provided to help keep the residents fit and active.
Although Catholic nuns run the residential facility, the place is open to people of all faiths, and religious freedom is respected.
Being very close to shopping malls, arts and culture centers, recreation areas and major transportation hubs, including the light rail transit station, the facility allows its residents to enjoy city life as much as they want and retreat to the comfort of a private, secure and comfortable home.
Right now, this well-maintained enclave for seniors has a total of 17 boarders, the eldest being a 98-year-old woman who does not have any relative to care for her.
Rent for a single room is P25,000 a month, inclusive of meals, electricity, air-conditioning, and service from the staff. Residents who share a room pay P18,000 each.
The Saint Maria Josefa Home for the Aged is at 2652 Maytubig St., Malate, Manila, with tel. nos. 525-3647 and 525-6855. More information may be obtained through e-mail: resismj@yahoo.com.ph or through Sociedad Española de Beneficencia at 843-0742 and info@sebfil.org.