ACTIVE AGEING

Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development, Steven Blackett, is commending the efforts of the National Assistance Board’s Seniors’ Recreational Activities Programme to keep older adults in this country active.

His comments came yesterday morning as he delivered the feature address at the reopening of the St. Bartholomew Seniors’ Recreational Activities Centre in the Church Hall of the St. Bartholomew Anglican Church.

“The shifting work pattern necessitates the need for Government, faith-based organisations and the private sector to provide resources and or help facilitate activities to develop the supportive environment to meet the social, ecological, psychological, mental and spiritual needs of our older adult population. One such multidimensional programme is the National Assistance Board’s Seniors’ Recreational Activities Programme. This programme was created as a shift away from the uni-dimensional paradigm, which saw healthy ageing as being a process where focus is only on the biological ageing process. The active ageing concept is based on the principle that the older adult has rights as expressed in the United Nations Charter 1992. These rights are: independence, dignity, participation, security and fairness,” he stated.

Minister Blackett said this paradigm shift moves towards the empowerment of the elderly by abandoning the “needs base methodologies” of the past and by acknowledging the United Nations declaration, that older adults have a right to equality of opportunity over the latter stages of their life course. With that in mind, the Social Care Minister said that the National Assistance Board, recognising that many older adults in its Home Care Programme were seen as dependent, passive individuals with little or no opportunities to participate in the home or community, sought through its Seniors’ Recreational Activities Programme to put an end to this “social isolation” of our growing elderly population from community participation.

“Not only does the programme offer the elderly opportunities to participate in community activities, but at the core of the programme is the older adult’s right to choose the level and type of activities they will engage in each term. Exercising this right has the potential to increase participants’ sense of independence and to develop their sense of dignity and self-worth. Participation in such programmes also creates the environment that supports the diverse needs of the elderly, as they interact with other seniors and cultures across the nation and the Caribbean,” he indicated.

He made the point as he noted that the Seniors’ Recreational Activities Programme takes place at 17 centres across Barbados, located in nine parishes. Only St. James and St. Andrew are not currently running such programmes.

The Minister added that at present approximately 300 older adults participate in the programme, engaging in such social and recreational activities as making soaps, jewellery and soft furnishings; flower arranging; bead craft; and dancing. He noted that the major hallmarks of the initiative are the biennial craft exhibition which is held at the Grande Salle, the seniors’ annual cruises to the Caribbean and North America and the participation in educational seminars and workshops, which he said bring awareness to the issues that affect older persons in this country. (JRT)