| The elderly need equal attention |
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Dr Malinee Thambyayah Nov 24, 06 12:25pm |
It was interesting to read Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil in a daily last month expounding on ‘Adding soul to welfare work’.
Shahrizat couldn’t have put it better when she commented that ‘... kindness is an act which the blind can see, and the deaf can hear – the spirit (of charity and caring) is what we want to imbue in all Malaysians’.
As a child specialist, there is much that one can compare with paediatrics and geriatrics (science of treatment of the elderly) even though both fields are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. This cradle to the grave continuum underscores the point that both children and the elderly need a great deal of care, attention and love.
Older persons need as much attention as a baby – both medically speaking and also literally. When it comes to looking after a baby, most of us have no qualms of showering a child with love. But do we remember to show the same measure of affection to the elderly in our society?
As people grow old through the aging process, the body metabolism and physiology also slowly changes over the years. This is normal although many people don’t realise that our bodies are not the same as it once used to be.
For instance, older people’s medication requirements are lesser and they generally need smaller dosage amounts like children. Not only does one need to pay meticulous attention on the elderly, but they also require support and care, as Shahrizat rightly pointed out.
These we believe come best from the family, community and the state. The elderly should never be allowed to die a homeless person or as a destitute. What we strive to do for our children should also be done for our senior citizens.
These include:
1. A child has her father’s and mother’s love. For the elderly, it’s the other way around where children should shower their love on their parents. Instead of simply giving them money and walking out, children should make it a point to take their parents out, spend more time with them, etc. Just as food, clothing and shelter are necessary for children, they apply for the elderly as well.
2. As children have education and partake in healthy activities in school and extra-curricular activities, every effort should be made by society to ensure that the elderly can also take part in community clubs and activities such as the ‘Warga Tua’ programmes.
Healthcare support should be made more accessible to the elderly by making the hospital to come to the home rather than the elderly going to the hospital. The elderly have no access to transport and suffer great inconveniences in hospitals by having limited access to wheelchairs or that express lanes are not fast enough or have no escort services.
3. Corporate companies coming forward to help the elderly as part of their social responsibilities is certainly the right way to help the disadvantaged.
As we move towards 2020, we share the minister’s dreams and visions in making it all happen.
The writer is a committee member, Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (PetPositive). |
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