Carib Rehab Ltd. - 25th Anniversary Feature

MIDWEEK NATION. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. 1

16 PAGE SPECIAL WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014.

2. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL

Driven to satisfy . . .

FOR MANY PEOPLE who have suffered a serious illness or injury that resulted in a loss of mobility, regaining a sense of independence in daily living can be difficult. But Carib Rehab, a local company that specialises in medical, hospital and rehabilitation equipment and supplies, has made overcoming that hurdle easier for many people.

The company, which has been in operation for the past 25 years, was started by husband and wife team Hilary and Patrick Bethell. Hilary, an occupational therapist, started the company to get the products she and other rehabilitation therapists needed.

The couple has worked tirelessly along with their staff of ten to expand the business in several different avenues, with one goal, which is to make the lives of those recovering from illness or injury easier.

“Our ethos here is trying to provide the equipment and products that help people maintain their independence and help caregivers look after who they have to look after comfortably,” said Hilary Bethell, co-owner and managing director of Carib Rehab. “Our goal is to take away some of the anxieties and pressures of caring for people.”

Located in the tranquil and picturesque setting of Friendship Plantation, near Hothersal Turning in St Michael, the company provides a wide range of equipment and services MICHELLE MATTHEWS, the shoe expert at Carib Rehab assisting another to aid mobility — canes, crutches, satisfied customer. (RC)

because they care

wheelchairs or power scooters.

Knowing that rehabilitation doesn’t have to be debilitating, Carib Rehab also provides bath benches, extension showers, raised toilet seats or safety grab bars that can restore a sense of independence to bathroom time.

Whether you’re young or old or recovering from a sports injury or stroke, diabetic wound management or amputation, the inviting showroom is filled with products and supplies that can meet almost any need. If customers are unsure about the right products for them, Carib Rehab’s pleasant and knowledgeable sales team can help potential customers make informed purchases.

“We’ve chosen our staff members for

• Continued on next page.

MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. 3

We live by quality service • From Page 2.

their personalities and what they can bring to the company,” said Bethell. “We do continuing education programmes and in-service programmes for our staff, so there’s always new knowledge exchanged, Providing quality service is a standing mantra for Carib Rehab because many of their customers are often sick or incapacitated in some way. It’s important that their staff treat customers well, along with helping to ease their fears and anxieties on the decisions they need to make on rehabilitative care.

The vagaries of life can present health challenges in a variety of ways. However, what this company seeks to do is try to make people feel like themselves again by providing simple solutions so they can perform their own tasks and live with a sense of dignity and respect.

Naturally, there are times when the scope of the illness or the problems of ageing make it impossible to restore that sense of independence. With that in mind, the company’s expanded product line includes home care electric hospital beds along with the mattresses and mattress covers. For those who may be plagued by issues of incontinence, there are adult briefs, urine collection bags, external male catheters, tubing and urinary leg bags and underpads. These can be provided for care at home by family members, for use by nursing homes, and supplied to pharmacies.

With non-communicable chronic diseases on the rise in Barbados, Carib Rehab has a home diagnostics line where

FLASHBACKS. PATRICK BETHELL showing how it’s done on this cool electric scooter. Below, Managing Director and Co owner Hilary Bethell demonstrating the adjustable height features of the computer station’s keyboard tray. (FPs) sufferers of hypertension can monitor their blood pressure with digital or aneroid blood pressure machines. It also widened their product offerings to meet the customers suffering from different ailments.

“There has been an increase in the need because of the rise in chronic diseases and based on that need we’ve brought in more products ,” Bethell said. “We want to sell products that work in our environment. That’s why a lot of the metal products are aluminium, not steel. We try to carry things that are easy to care for. The diabetic and orthopedic shoe line developed because

people were asking for shoes for people with diabetes and painful or deformed feet.”

Diabetics can also manage their glucose levels daily with glucometers, test strips and lancets. Carib Rehab’s range of diabetic footwear ensures that one’s feet are in comfortable, supportive shoes to help protect feet from the dangers of injury.

Asthma sufferers can also benefit from Carib Rehab’s product offerings, including nebulisers with accessories like masks and cups. For those that need more intense care, the facility supplies oxygen concentrators under a doctor’s

prescription which is installed by Patrick Bethell or other staff.

What has kept Carib Rehab successful is its ability to target a niche based on customer inquiries and the provision of stellar service. One such niche is fitting post-mastectomy prostheses for breast cancer patients who’ve suffered mastectomies. This is done on the premises in a very private but uplifting setting which leaves women feeling rejuvenated and looking good when the fitting process is completed.

Over the years, Carib Rehab has formed a number of alliances with different organisations such as The Gift Foundation, The Little Pink Gift Foundation and the Cancer Support Services that provides bras and prosthetic breasts and assistance in other ways to cancer patients and survivors. They also have a long-standing relationship the Canadian Women’s Club of Barbados.

“I see a lot of people with burn injuries because I am trained in fitting the burn scar pressure garments. We treat about 12 or 13 children per year with burnrelated injuries,” Bethell said.

“The Canadian Women’s Club of Barbados has a special fund called the Burn Scar Garment and Orthotics Fund for Children which they formed in 1984 after a talk from Mr Winston Crookendale, plastic and reconstructive surgeon, about burns.

“I manage that fund for the Canadian Women’s Club. When children require burn scar garments and if their families cannot afford them, the pressure garments are provided by the Canadian Women’s Club through our services here.”

After 25 years in the business Carib Rehab is still improving service to its valued customers. The years have proven that taking care of our customers and listening to their needs can yield great results for our customers, our staff and for Carib Rehab.

4. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL

SOME OF THE BEST ideas for a business arise because of a need and a desire to help others. Nobody knows that better than Hilary Bethell.

As an occupational therapist in private practice she found she needed grab rails, raised toilet seats and other items that were difficult to find in Barbados in the 1980s.

“Back then you could buy crutches and a walker or wheelchair from pharmacies, but you couldn’t buy anything else,” Bethell said. There were no aids for daily living. So I would order them from supply companies in the United States that I knew of through my work in occupational therapy.”

But it took a conversation with a friend and fellow occupational therapist and a desire to help local rehabilitation therapists source products that really spurred her into action.

“A friend of mine who was an occupational therapist and an owner of a big supply company said: ‘You know you need to have a dealership’. He asked me how I was ordering things and I said through catalogs. And he said: ‘Do you know that you could get dealer pricing?’”

“When a physiotherapist would say to me ‘I need grab bars’ or a raised toilet seat I would order two so I’d have an extra one and that would go and somebody else would need something. Sometimes I would need special cutlery with big handles or a long-handled scrub brush and I would order a few more. It got to the point by 1989 that we needed to form a company. We started there and eventually it grew.”

In the early days it was Hilary and her husband Patrick Bethell, and then Susan Hutchinson joined them on a part-time basis.

“Then we hired a receptionist and later we decided we needed a showroom. – and we attached that to the old building and we worked like that for a few years,” she said.

As the demand for the products grew, and the HILARY BETHELL, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CO-OWNER showroom area was becoming cramped, a second showroom was added which was two-stories that us for products,” Bethell added. included an upstairs office and staff rooms. But for Hilary “Early on Susan developed markets for the the design of the bigger showroom was integral medical stockings. She then grew the dental lines to her work. and later the therapeutic footwear and wound care “This was designed from my occupational therapy products. We developed a market for the CPAP experiences because I wanted a walk-in bathroom area machines, coordinating with respiratory physicians that people could try out equipment. The bathroom and brought in a trainer and taught some of our actually works,’’ she said. “I didn’t want the showroom staff in their fitting and use. I’ve been on courses only to be rows of wheelchairs and products. That’s why on post-mastectomy care and I trained Kerry we’ve arranged it like this. There are curtains and so we developed that as another niche market.” pictures on the walls and the grandfather clock. We want Since it is a family-owned and operated business the space to be friendly and look like a home and not Hilary’s husband Patrick also took courses in the like a clinical place.” operation and fitting of the oxygen concentrators, Bethell is cognisant of the fact that when people come power wheelchairs and other powered equipment to Carib Rehab they might be nervous and unsure, so it and does all the maintenance of the equipment. was essential that the area provided a calming ambience.

“It’s a company that has tried to respond to “That’s basically how the company grew. It grew out community needs and medical fraternity needs,” of my needs as an occupational therapist. It grew out Bethell said. “I’m hoping that we are doing that, of the needs of other therapists wanting equipment for we seem to be very well known now. It really is very their patients and then it became physicians asking pleasing to help people.”

MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. 5 PATRICK BETHELL, the co-owner of Carib Rehab may call himself the person behind the scenes but his contributions to the company he formed with his wife Hilary are enormous, While his wife, the occupational therapist is more hands-on with the clients, Bethell’s own prowess keeps the products in the organisation running in top form.

For him it is important that the lush greenery that envelops the Carib Rehab facility is kept as picturesque as possible to create the right effect for PATRICK BETHELL, DIRECTOR potential customers.

TECHNICAL SERVICES “When you run AND CO-OWNER a business there are a thousand and one things that you don’t see that have to be done on a regular basis after hours and on weekends both to the infrastructure here and the facility,” Bethell said. “I’m basically the service technician, the person that repairs all the wheelchairs and equipment. When people buy a piece of equipment from us it’s not bought for a social purpose, it’s bought for a functional purpose.

We try to repair and service our products as quickly as possible.”

Wheelchairs or power chairs that people might bring in from overseas, Bethell also tries to fix or service when they stop working, and people contact them for assistance.

“There are very few chairs that we’ve said no to.

Generally we will try and fix them, however there are some situations when there’s nothing that we can do,” Bethell said.

For Bethell being part of an organisation that assists people in living better is a labour of love, because he had a brother who was disabled. He has been working to assist the disabled community for

more than 20 years.

“I have a special empathy for people who are disabled and I understand that what most people take for granted they may have to struggle to cope with the simplest activity,” he said. “So I try and understand what they’re going through and see how I can assist in making their well-being a little easier for them.”

After hours and on weekends the company’s phones are monitored so crises can be helped. Visitors to the island and residents need access to Carib Rehab’s services if they have an emergency.

“Sometimes we get tourists who come down with their own wheelchair and it gets damaged or a part is missing and we try and find a solution for them even if it’s making a part,” Bethell said. We actually built a part for a visitor’s wheelchair which was damaged in transit, and without that wheelchair that person could not have had pleasant holiday.”

Along with servicing products, Bethell also provides oxygen for customers utilising oxygen concentrators which he has been trained to use and service. This sometimes takes place after hours which means Bethell has to make house calls. “The doctor will visit the patient

to determine that they need oxygen so they will call us and I will go out anytime day or night and set them up,” Bethell said. “Oxygen is a prescription medication so we will only work with a doctor and under their supervision.”

Though Bethell isn’t in the showroom throughout the day, he may be out on service calls. When he is at Carib Rehab, he can be found helping customers in the showroom with information on a particular product or who may be unsure on what to purchase. In some cases, Bethell may steer customers to rent equipment as opposed to buying depending, on their needs.

Keeping the customers’ needs foremost in mind has been the driving force behind Bethell and the sales staff. customer trust and loyalty is highly important to us.

“I operate on the philosophy that if you give good service and good products at a reasonable price the business will succeed. It is a feeling of deep satisfaction when you have been able to help so many people.”

6. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL

WHEN SUSAN HUTCHINSON sees the growth of Carib Rehab and recalls the company in its infancy, when it was only she and Hilary and Patrick Bethell operating out of a garage, she marvels at how far they’ve come.

Hutchinson, a former pharmaceutical representative and a trained nurse, never dreamed that when she started out working a couple of mornings a week, 25 years ago, that it would be the launching pad for the company situated on Friendship Plantation.

“I think back to the beginning, when Hilary’s office was in the back in the garage and when I came to work my desk was the vanity and our storage was a chest of drawers and we were just starting out,” Hutchinson recalled. “We sold a few splints, every now and then Hilary would bring in something for somebody and I guess she saw a vision for the therapist and providing supplies for them.”

It was that vision that moved them out of a garage and gradually expanded the company to a showroom providing a range of products and services.

“Back then we had Hilary’s clinic and the other room was my office, which I shared with a receptionist. Our product was on one of the back walls. We had a peg board and we had a bedpan hanging up and a urinal and then we built this little showroom. It’s been very gradual but it’s been linked to what the public has needed. Our product line has grown and grown because of what customers have requested.”

According to Hutchinson, their decision to carry a line of diabetic shoes came from customer enquiries. Over the years, Hutchinson has been instrumental in Carib Rehab’s growth. As part of that growth strategy, The company participated in health fairs, church heath days, and medical and dental conferences to help

name out there.”

By the time other competitors came on the market, Carib Rehab had managed to establish its name and reputation. What set the folk at Carib Rehab apart was their ability to service the products they sold, fulfil product orders for customers, and the ability to compile an extensive retail line.

That also meant attending trips to medical trade shows for Hutchinson and the Bethell’s, which provided the inspiration for the type of interactive showroom they currently have.

Over the years, Hutchinson has been instrumental in helping to establish Carib Rehab as a SUSAN HUTCHINSON household name in the public SALES AND MARKETING MANAGER and medical community as well. extend the scope and visibility of “We’re not a big company. the company around the island. Fiona has come on recently “We would try and get out in to help with the E-marketing the community and people and social media marketing so would come up to us and say, we’re trying to focus on that,” ‘Well, I never heard of you.’” she said.

Hutchinson recalled. “We didn’t “In the early days, it was just have much competition in those going out into the community, days, and we worked to get our then we built on the newspaper,

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radio and television advertising.

With the advent of social media and the website, we’ve had to change our strategy. Now we’re making a push for a greater social media presence. But the important thing is still to listen to the customer and their needs.”

Part of meeting the needs of customers is having the availability of products.

Hutchinson said Carib Rehab now has more than 3 000 items in inventory.

“The strategy is just to keep your inventory tight and make sure you have what the customer needs,” she said. “It’s the individual attention that we provide for our customers that has helped to grow Carib Rehab over the past 25 years.”

MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. 7

We Guarantee... t 3BQJE SFTVMUT t &NFSHFODZ TFSWJDF BGUFS IPVST XFFLFOE BOE IPMJEBZT t IPVS BDDFTT UP FNFSHFODZ SBEJPMPHZ SFQPSUT

FOUR CONVENIENT LOCATIONS

MICHELLE DUMETT, HOMECARE SHOWROOM SALES COORDINATOR (RC)

Dumett the ‘go-to person’ “I DO EVERYTHING. I’m the go-to person.�

After 13 years, Michelle Dumett considers herself the go-to person at Carib Rehab. Along with being the homecare showroom sales coordinator, Dumett is also a registered nurse which enhances her ability to deal with customers when they come for products. “It’s a dynamic place to work because it’s a retail setting and I am in charge of the floor, and the team, and I do retail sales,� she said of Carib Rehab. “My nursing background comes in handy because I also assist with supplying oxygen concentrators, suction machines, nebulizers and I do the calibration of CPAP [Continuous Positive Airway Therapy)] machines, the fitting of the masks. If any of the patients come in in a rush that their CPAP machine is not working, I am the person that would try to troubleshoot it or give them a loaner and ship it out as fast as possible.�

Dumett applies her traditional nursing skills in advising on would care and bedside nursing.

The company sent her on wound care courses and now Carib Rehab carries a line of special products for dressings and wound healing.

Her work experience is helpful when dealing with the provision of oxygen supplied by an oxygen concentrator. “An oxygen concentrator generates oxygen continuously so you don’t have to refill like the traditional cylinder bottles,� she said. “You can only get it by prescription. Doctors usually call requesting one for a patient that’s about to be discharged and Patrick Bethell usually sets it up for the client. If he is unavailable, I stand in. We set up the machine and show the patient and the family how to use it.�

Dumett is knowledgeable about all the products that Carib Rehab carries and is a fountain of information for customers and patients who access its facility.

BECKLES ROAD OPENING HOURS: Monday to Friday 7:30am - 3:30pm, Saturdays 8:00am - 11:30pm Fax: 427-1183 (FOFSBM 9 SBZ t 'MVPSPTDPQJD HBTUSP JOUFTUJOBM TUVEJFT t MOUFSWFOUJPOBM 3BEJPHSBQIJD 4UVEJFT t .BNNPHSBQIZ t 6MUSBTPVOE t 6SPMPHJDBM *NBHJOH SUNSET CREST OPENING HOURS: Monday to Friday 8:00am - 8:00pm &NFSHFODZ PO DBMM TFSWJDF BWBJMBCMF BGUFS IPVST XFFLFOET BOE IPMJEBZT Fax: 432-7727 "EWBODFE NVMUJ TMJDF $5 JNBHJOH t %JHJUBM 3BEJPHSBQIZ t 6MUSBTPVOE WARRENS OPENING HOURS: Monday to Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Fax: 271-0872 t 4QFDJBMJTJOH JO PSUIPQBFEJD OFVSP BOE CPEZ .3 *NBHJOH t (FOFSBM 9 SBZ COVERLEY OPENING HOURS: Monday to Friday 7:30am - 4:30pm Fax: 627-1237 t (FOFSBM 9 SBZ t 6MUSB TPVOE

For more information please contact us at 432-7099 or visit our wesbite www.diagnosticradiologyservices.org

MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. 9

8. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL

KERRY DESIR inserting a prosthesis into a brassiere. (RC)

DEMONSTRATING HOW to fit leg braces is but one of the many services Michelle Matthews can be called on to perform on a typical day. (RC)

GETTING THE MEASUREMENTS right is key to customer satifaction. (RC)

KERRY DESIR, Homecare Salesperson making adjustments to a cane for a client. (RC)

LONG BEFORE “GREENING” BECAME POPULAR in business, Patrick Bethell, co-owner and director technical services of Carib Rehab, adopted a policy of environmental sustainability.

The design of its buildings borrows heavily from Barbadian vernacular architecture by “keeping out the sun and letting in the wind”. From the ventilated, insulated roofs to the heat-reflective paint outside; from the bell window hoods to the tinted glass; from the open windows to free-flow air passages throughout the buildings; to energy-efficient ceiling fans and vegetation surrounding the buildings, the company’s policy has always been to utilise natural cooling and ventilation.

A solar hot-water system and a state-of-the-art photo-voltaic system, coupled with energy efficient lights supply approximately 80 per cent of Carib Rehab’s energy needs.

Carib Rehab recycles 90 per cent of its bulk waste. All cardboard packaging, used wheelchair batteries and wooden shipping pallets are collected and used by various recycling firms.

“Not only are we reducing the company’s carbon footprint, but it also makes sound economic sense by reducing the company’s energy bill by 89 per cent,” said Patrick Bethell.

MICHELLE MATTHEWS ensuring her clients’ new shoes fit perfectly. (RC)

10. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL

“I LOVE MY WORK!” That glowing sentiment is what drives Coleen Leacock in her role as accounts clerk for Carib Rehab. For the past 13 years, she has worked diligently managing the computerized bookkeeping.

“I have always been able to manage money well,” Leacock said confidently. “Ever since I was in school I realised my strength was in maths more than English.

I enjoy every moment of my job.”

In addition to computer tasks, Leacock also interacts with customers by telephone assisting them with accounts queries.

For Leacock, the St Michael locale and its serene surroundings make it a perfect setting for crunching numbers.

“I’m out of traffic, ten minutes or so from home and it’s really good for me,” she said.

The company’s locale is

especially helpful for these challenging times. Leacock has tailored her job and career path to suit her and impact her financial service to the company.

But for Leacock, the secret to her success has been knowing the subject area where she was strongest, and finding the right position that would capitalise on those strengths. She’ll be the first to tell you that she has done just that at Carib Rehab.

COLEEN LEACOCK, ACCOUNTANT (RC)

AFTER 14 YEARS, Julian Belgrave is still as passionate about his job at Carib Rehab as the day he started.

On any given day, you’ll find him helping out customers with their product offerings, or he’ll be on the road delivering some of their heavier equipment like the hospital beds, recliner chairs, or patient lifts.

“When someone calls and something is wrong with a product and I go to them when I’m there I can assess, give ideas on how to make things better for them,” Belgrave said.

“Or if someone comes in and they have no idea what they want I can show them this is what they probably need.”

He admitted that one of the most rewarding aspects

of his job was being able to provide the help that so many people came to Carib Rehab for.

Belgrave also assembles and delivers big items which make his day quite unpredictable and busy, especially when emergency orders come in.

get fairly challenging,” he said.

“If there’s a guy in any company that has his hands in everything, that’s me here at Carib Rehab.”

Being multifaceted comes in handy for Belgrave both in and out of the company. Couple that with the fact that his might and “We do most of the assembling brawn is essential for the bigger, heavier items. of the items on site to make sure “A big part of Belgrave’s love everything is working properly,” for his job is the family-like he said atmosphere that permeates the “I can say I’m planning to do facility. That sense of camaraderie this at the office, but when coupled with the joy of helping someone calls and needs a chair people make the time he spends delivered by a certain time in St Lucy, or a bed in St Philip, that can there well worth it.

JULIAN BELGRAVE, HOME CARE SALESPERSON (RC)

MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. 11

KERRY DESIR,

REHABILITATION THERAPY TECHNOLOGIST AND HOME CARE SALESPERSON. (RC)

IN HER SEVEN-YEAR tenure at Carib Rehab, Kerry Desir has been able to do a lot. Not only does she get to fit patients with specialised knee braces and help out with sales, but she is instrumental in helping breast cancer patients fit breast prostheses after undergoing mastectomies.

While she may be young, she brings to her job a depth of knowledge and empathy that is imperative to what she does daily.

“There are some weeks where I see three new breast cancer patients every day, then there are times we’ll only have one or two a week but on average I see one new patient every day,” Desir said. The age range goes straight across the lifespan with our youngest patient being 18 and our oldest is 74 years old.”

While no day for Desir is the same, there is a certain amount of personal fulfil ment she gets from fitting patients with their breast prosthesis.

“Initially it was challenging and emotionally draining,” Desir revealed. “I would start the session and then I would find some reason why

I needed to be excused and I’d leave the room and start to cry. But I’ve learn to separate myself yet still be compassionate. But the best part for me is to see their reaction when they’ve fitted the prosthesis and everything looks normal.

That’s so rewarding for me.”

For Desir, it’s also being there to listen to many of the women who come in to be fitted and often talk about what’s going in their lives and their treatment.

“Our breast prostheses aren’t only for those

who’ve had mastectomies, they’re also for those who have abnormalities like having one breast larger than the other, there is a special insert for that,” she said.

I assist in the showroom with clients and help with cash in the afternoons.

Matthews ensures clients walk happily SHE CALLS HERSELF the “Shoe Lady” with good reason. But Michelle Matthews isn’t the only one that uses the moniker.

“Repeat customers when they come tend to ask for the Shoe Lady,” Matthews said. “People who suffer with bad feet problems, whether from diabetes or other shoe issues, come to me seeking relief. I enjoy that aspect of my job knowing that people can walk away literally happy, especially if they come in with a heel spur and then they can get something that works.”

The satisfaction of helping customers is key for Matthews, who revealed that it’s about more than just making a sale.

“I don’t sell shoes. I like to know that you’re comfortable and the shoes feel good to you and it’s what you like, so it’s not just selling shoes to me,” she said. “I like the interaction with people especially when they can go away feeling good about what they purchased.”

Matthews has been instrumental in helping diabetic customers who may not be well informed on the right type of shoe or slipper to buy for their condition.

“They shouldn’t get shoes with a toe piece because you don’t want any friction between the toes and in terms of shoes you should get something a little bigger than your actual shoe size,” Matthews said.

“Sometimes diabetics can lose feeling and they can’t tell their foot is being bruised against the shoe and it gets sore after a while.”

After six years of working at Carib Rehab, Matthews has become very knowledgeable about the right shoes for people with different ailments.

Very often she becomes engaged in conversation with many of the customers seeking help, which can only benefit them in the long run.

“I get to interact a bit more with them. Sometimes they might just be coming in for a pair of shoes but they might be dealing with something else so it becomes more than the shoes,” she said. “But it’s about the interaction that can change how

all of that will play out.”

Along with shoes, Matthews also assists customers who might have been injured, or have prosthetic limbs, and need aids to help them get around at home. Very often Matthews would advise them to go home and see what they need first before purchasing equipment that might not be suitable for them.

According to Matthews, most customers usually come back more informed about what is best for them.

“I prefer to give them what they’re in need of. Yes, we are a store and we’re in a business, but I don’t engage a sale in that way,” she said.

“It has to be about a need and not a want.”

MICHELLE MATTHEWS, HOME CARE SALESPERSON. (RC)

12. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL THOUGH SHE is the newest member on staff at Carib Rehab, Fiona Bethell is making her presence felt handling the company’s human resources, some of their marketing and advertising initiatives and its social media presence.

She is also responsible for maintaining the clean atmosphere of the office and showrooms and supervises the company’s hard working cleaner, who is on duty from 6am to have the premises ready for opening at 8 a.m. Her computer knowledge is also a great assets and she quickly coordinates with our very reliable computer systems technician wherever there are computer faults.

While those aspects of her

FIONA BETHELL, ADMINISTRATION OFFICER

job might seem like a lot, Bethell, is a woman on a mission. She knows that the work the company does is important to the lives of Barbadians and

tourists alike, and she is determined to keep them foremost in everyone’s mind, especially the younger generation.

“You’ll have a layperson coming in who has been told they need to get X, they don’t really know how to use it or what it’s for,” Bethell said. “The wonderful thing about Carib Rehab is that our staff are able to sit down with you and say this is why you need it and this is what else you may need.”

Even though the company has been around for 25 years, Bethell knows

MOST OF ANGELA HACKETT’S days are spent on the road driving around Barbados. Working as a courier for the past five years for Carib Rehab, she has become very knowledgeable about most areas on the island, though she admits to harbouring a dislike for the hilly parts.

However, what she does love is the opportunity to talk and interact with the various people she meets every day.

“I get to interact with so many mature elderly people and it’s great to be able to talk with them, to demonstrate the products and even share a good word with them. Sometimes I’m even sharing a Godly word with them,” Hackett said.

For Hackett most of her days start out early,

that to remain competitive the company has to remain relevant and that means doing more to expand their consumer reach.

“We’ve been trying to get our face out there with the younger generation, my generation,” she said. “A lot of the times people from my generation haven’t heard of Carib Rehab or may not realise we don’t just cater to an older audience, a young person could need us as well.” She has increased Carib Rehab’s Facebook presence with regular timely updates and is getting more

“likes” every week.

According to Bethell, one way the company is looking to forge those linkages with the younger community is by doing a dance injury seminar later this month led by a registered physiotherapist who is also a dancer, herself. Young dancers and dance teachers are invited to come and find out more about the type of injuries dancers are prone to and what they can do about them. This will be at 6:30 pm on Thursday, October 16, at the Liberal Arts Auditorium of the Barbados

Community College.

Another product line aimed at the younger generation is a range of reusable cloth diapers and diaper covers. These are great for the environment and even better for babies’ skin.

“I want to make sure that we give Carib Rehab the voice and the life it needs,” Bethell said. “With the competition that we have, if we don’t get out there and capture the younger market we are in danger of dying out in this economy and my role really is to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

van is filled with support pillows, recliner armchairs, walkers, canes, bedpans and a host of other specialised products such as dental and medical supplies.

“I work from 9 a.m. until the van is empty,” Hackett said.

“I load up on mornings and go. Some people just call in and order the products and I take them, which could be to any part of the island. I do a lot of deliveries in Christ Church, St James and St Michael, especially Belleville.”

While she loves the freedom from monotony that her job offers, she revealed that being a courier has changed her life as well.

“I talk a lot more than I used to before,” Hackett revealed.

“I was very quiet before, but I get a chance to talk more to the clients. There’s a lot of feedback that I get to share ANGELA HACKETT, COURIER with the customers because sometimes they’re looking for FOR CARIB REHAB other products. Even though I’m still quiet I talk a lot more before 9 a.m., as she prepares by now, and I get to learn more of the island as well.” And the loading up the Carib Rehab van customers appreciate her caring attention, as they do from with orders to be delivered to all Carib Rehab staff. Telephone calls and thank you notes doctors’ offices, and private attest to their appreciation of Carib Rehab’s thoughtful, residences. Daily the company attentive staff.

MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. 13

2010. CARIB REHAB’S STAFF with their donation to the Haiti medical relief programme. (GP)

2007. SUSAN HUTCHINSON (right) of Carib Rehab explaining the benefits of a shoe, designed specially for diabetics, to Paul Tudor.

2011. SUSAN HUTCHINSON (standing) of Carib Rehab, discussing the importance of correct seating posture while at the cumputer workstation with Jan Lynton at the Barbados Port Authority Health Day. (FP)

2011. THE CARIB REHAB BOOTH attracted many visitors.

14. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL

AWARD TIME 2004. CARIB REHAB LIMITED EMPLOYEES (from left) Julian Belgrave, Michelle Dumet, Patrick Bethell – director technical services, Hilary Bethell – managing director, Coleen Leacock and Patricia Merritt, with the Invacare Corporation Yes You Can Growth Award for 2004 for Latin America and South America. Absent are Susan Hutchinson and Judy Gill. (FP)

MIDWEEK NATION SPECIAL. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014. 15

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