The Barbados Advocate

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Help elderly more

10/25/2009

As the aging population in Barbados continues to increase significantly, president of the Barbados Elderly Care Association (BECA), Maureen Ward believes that more systems need to be put in place to ensure that the island’s elderly community can enjoy a high quality of life.

In fact, Ms Ward noted that statistics released from local health officials project that by 2020, the island’s elderly population (persons 65 and over) would account for more than 25 per cent.

Speaking to the Barbados Advocate recently, Ward pointed out some areas that the BECA would like to see measures put in place to assist the elderly in Barbados.

She noted that the government’s Alternative Care of the Elderly Programme, which is a contractual arrangement between government and the private sector to provide another means of care for the elderly, is unable to accommodate the great demand for such services. She added that as a result, there are a number of elderly persons who are unable to care for themselves living alone, or in some instances living with family members who are not providing the support they require but are benefitting from their possessions.

Ward believes that government should adopt a strict policy to confront the issue of elderly abuse in Barbados, especially as it relates to financial matters. However, she admitted that the measures required would not find favor with a number of persons, and therefore governments over the years have been reluctant to address the issue.

“We have elderly out there who are being taken advantage of because a lot of families are saying that the government should take care of them but yet they have properties or pensions that these same persons who are not prepared to take care of them are benefitting from. But the government has not really dealt with that, and that can only be addressed through policy.

“I think that if somebody is getting a pension, it can contribute to them being in a home, even if the government pays the difference and that way the government would be able to afford more alternative care. At the moment, there is a cap on the number of persons that can benefit from alternative care, so there are a lot of people out there who want to get into the programme but someone has to die in order for them to get a place,” she explained.

Another area that the BEC president would like to see enhanced is the range of activities that are provided for the elderly, especially within residential care. She noted that in some institutions, while the elderly is fed and looked after, there are no programmes to keep them active.

“In terms of recreational activities, I believe that there must be someone in each nursing home who is responsible for coordinating some structured recreational activity and even some structured occupational therapy for the elderly because they need that. When you go to the Geriatric Hospital, you would see a bunch of elderly persons just sitting there. Yes, they are nice and clean and they are well fed and so on but they are not stimulated. In my opinion, the onus is on the home owner to have somebody who will take that task on and get some action or some interaction going amongst the group,” she remarked. (AD)

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