Have you experienced visiting group homes that take in some mentally ill people who need not simply a roof over their heads but also someone to feed and assist them with their daily needs?
Try visiting these groups’ homes and seeing those people there, day in and day out, whiling away their time by intermittently smoking cigarettes and marijuana to their hearts’ content.
These patients alternately puff their cigarettes outside their homes, with just a few minutes of frequency every day. As they deeply inhale the smoke, they uncontrollably bow their heads while smiling or talking to themselves or simply staring at nothing.
These are the people who have lost their minds, their very lives. Their illness has prevented them from performing activities of daily living. Watching them in that state would surely melt your heart; many emotions hit you.
So many questions come to your mind, asking yourselves, what are these people thinking about? Why the frequent smiles on their faces? Are they happy? Do they feel that they are sick? It’s emotionally draining to see their prolonged silence, they seldom talk, and their eyes are fixed somewhere, not minding your presence.
There are some reasons why these mentally ill could not be cared for by their immediate family members. Their family members are possibly old, or some are busily working, and they don’t have much choice but to rely on these group homes to take care of their sick relatives.
These privately-run group homes are not supposed to be run just like ordinary, business-like enterprises. These group homes should be in the hands of people who are sympathetic to the plight of these sick people. Having some medical background, they could easily commiserate with the sufferings and pains of these people who have entirely lost control of themselves.
It’s not enough to simply put a roof over these patients’ heads and feed them.
They need loving-tender care– treating them just like their family members, ensuring they get their medications on time, and wearing comfortable clothes.
For their part, patients’ relatives should regularly visit their sick family members at their group homes. And they should be all eyes, observing how they are being treated, checking their meds if given regularly, seeing if their rooms are well-maintained
The mentally sick are the most vulnerable to abuse; they cannot complain and remain silent throughout their stay in the group homes. They cannot even verbalize what’s ailing them physically and mentally.
I’m not sure about the exact number of these group homes in our community, but it seems not easy these days to look for group homes to accommodate these mentally challenged people.
Mental experts say mental illness is a leading cause of disability in Canada. When we consider the stressful and depressing conditions prevailing in the country today, especially now that we are amid this Covid pandemic, most people are vulnerable to getting stressed out.
Our hospitals would only temporarily admit those people with mental health conditions who are in danger to themselves and others.
But as a norm now, these group homes provide care and assistance to these mentally ill, ensuring they get their medications in time, feeding them, and serving as conduits for these patients’ caregivers and caseworkers.
I’m not a doctor, but it seems mental sickness is one of the hardest to cure, despite our current technology and modern medical equipment—CT Scan, MRI, and X-Ray. These doctors must probe the mind and what’s happening in these patients’ brains.
To safeguard the welfare of these mentally ill, the gov’t agency tasked to oversee these group homes should at all times conduct random checks on these group homes to ensure compliance with the laws.
Given the uniqueness of setting up a business like a group home, owners of these establishments should be given some government tax incentives and support to ensure their viability and the efficient delivery of their services to their clients.