MALABSORPTION Syndrome — caused by the body’s inability to absorb nutrients — is not a condition many know about. However, for the staff at the Mustard Seed Home, My Father’s House, in Kingston, the term forms a part of their daily lives.
This is because eight of the home’s wards have this condition, and therefore have ‘special needs’ in order to get nourishment each day, a release said on Tuesday.
For the past four years, the home has implemented a specialised feeding programme for wards faced with digestive issues. Since they are unable to absorb the nutrients naturally from food fed by mouth, they rely on gastro-tubes inserted into their throats or stomachs, and special food mixes in liquid form for their nutrition, the release said.
To ensure their total care, the wards visit dieticians, who provide them with individualised meal plans based on their age and body mass index, among other things.
Typically, based on their meal plans, the wards eat foods such as pumpkin, carrot and Irish potato, mixed with milk, the release said. They also drink apple juice, Ensure and milk.
The food mixes and gastro-tubes are very costly, with one tube priced upwards of $20,000, the release continued. It has therefore been very challenging for the home to purchase these tubes, and the different parts that sometimes break.
According to the release, that is why initiatives like the Digicel 5k Run for Special Needs is so important to the Mustard Seed Home, who was a beneficiary of the race in 2016.
The $1-million donation the home received from last year’s run has reportedly helped them greatly with purchasing the food and tubes for the wards.
This year, Mustard Seed is again set to benefit from the 5k race.
Executive Director of Mustard Seed Communities Darcy Tulloch-Williams indicated that the donation from this year’s run will also go towards the continuation of this programme, since it has to be sustained.
“The feeding programme, though expensive, is crucial for the wards. If they are not fed through this method their bodies will not be properly nourished, and this will lead to other life-threatening conditions. Caregivers receive special training in administering the meals,” Tulloch-Williams is quoted as saying in the release. “We have to train them so that they know how to insert the tube, how to prevent infections and the correct portions for the children.”
The Digicel 5K Run is scheduled for October 7, starting from the Digicel headquarters in downtown Kingston at 7:00 pm.
In addition to Mustard Seeds, proceeds from this year’s race will go to the Jamaica Autism Support Association, Early Stimulation Programme, Jamaica Association on Intellectual Disabilities, and Jamaica Down’s Syndrome Foundation
Source: Jamaica Observer
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