Spring Break Panama Entry #3

Spring Break 2012 – Panama Entry #3

Thursday we spent the day at the Psychiatric Hospital in Chitre.  It is a public institution so the living conditions are very basic. All the buildings and everything in them dated back to the early 1970’s. There is a new huge hospital being built next door which will include a new mental health unit. The patients were mostly middle aged and older in the chronic unit and they had been there for many years. There was an acute unit with fewer patients that were mostly younger.  Suicide attempts are a problem in the area.  The buildings, even though they were very old and rundown were open and sunny and all on one level. The patients were outside a lot and able to move around the area freely. 

A plan to teach skills like coping, stress reduction/ relaxation, personal hygiene as well as doing an art project was developed before we left home.  We worked on the Chronic Unit with the women and made changes to our plan to fit the abilities of the patients. It seemed that they were all having a great time and enjoyed all the personal attention. Toward the end of the day we did makeup and nails and then turned up the music and danced!