How families can support older parents

SENIOR CITIZENS     FAMILY

In Muchwini, a remote village of Kitgum district, Pamela Atimango, 76, sits in her ram shackled hut surrounded by a bush. Her hands shaking, Atimango strains her eyes to pick and place the pieces of colored palm leaves to weave the mat she has been making for the last month. A small kettle covered with soot sits of a fireplace with only one stump of wood burning.

"My legs and back hurt all the time. I can hardly do any chores. Sometimes I sleep hungry. I cannot remember when I last took a cup of tea with sugar or a proper meal," Atimango laments.

She says her hut leaks when it rains in the night, she is forced to wake up and sit. In a low tone she says, "I produced six children but none of them supports me"

Atimango is one among thousands of older persons who are neglected by their family members.

According to the United Nations, an older person is a man or woman aged 60 years and above. According to UBOS projections of February 2019, Uganda has got a population of 1,476, 800 older persons. Of these about 828,200 are females and about 648,600 are male.
 
Help from family is key

Arthur Namara who is a gerontologist who treats physical, mental and handles emotional and social problems of older persons thinks even amidst financial constrains, children or families should support their older parents.

Namara says this can be achieved by remaining connected.

"Whether it is through a phone call or a facial contact, older persons appreciate simple treats from their children," he says adding that a phone call makes a happy day for them and they go telling everyone how their daughter or son rang.

Kezia Mukasa, the coordinator of Grandmothers Consortium an umbrella organization that brings six Ugandan grassroots governments that advocate and lobby for older persons rights says families need to be closer and support their old parents.

"They should call and visit them more frequently. Making them feel loved and worthy, enables them to remain strong," Mukasa notes.

She emphasizes that regardless of the economic status, families should ensure that older parents are supported financially to access their daily needs.

Battling elderly diseases

Old age comes with a number of ailments and diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, dementia and cardiovascular diseases as part of the aging process, says Patrick Menya the former assistant executive secretary for the national council for older persons. Yet they cannot meet the cost of medication for all those diseases unless they are helped.

"In our family settings, the sick older persons do not have the right to decide when and where to go for treatment. They have to wait for their children to decide when and which hospital to take them for treatment," Menya explains and adds that the situation gets worse when older persons do not have money and only depend on their children or good Samaritans.

In case the older persons decide to go by themselves, then they have to trek long distances to access health facilities, yet the facilities are not age-friendly.

He adds that older persons face stigmatization and discrimination in provision of health service coupled with the negative attitude of health workers who tell them to sit and wait in long queues. Such vices discourage older persons from seeking care and treatment and as a result, some die of diseases that could have been treated.

Dr. Frederik Nakwagala Nelson who is a geriatrician (a physician who specializes in care of the elderly and treating diseases that affect them) working with Mulago Referral Hospital says there is a need for government to ensure that medicines to treat older persons are listed in the essential drugs and are available in lower health facilities.

Currently, the government only provides two drugs for high blood pressure at center IV, regional and referral hospitals, yet the majority of older persons can only easily access health centers II and III.

As such, Mukasa calls for social and family support towards older persons especially helping them to access timely treatment.

Dr. Nakwagala asserts that social support is very paramount because older persons are usually left alone or isolated. Yet, older persons do better when they are cared for and supported.

This aligns with the government policy that encourages families to care and support older persons as opposed to taking them to homes for the elderly.

Dr. Nakwagala notes that support goes beyond having concrete and a roof over their heads but rather having someone to talk and smile to. But with the pressures of work for survival, Dr. Nakwagala says it becomes challenging to stay home and take care of older persons.

Additionally, old age comes with hearing impairment and loss of sight. Therefore it is important that families support older persons by providing them with devices such as hearing aids and white canes (walking stick). But also such devices should be provided free by the government.


Narama cites dementia as one of the health conditions associated with aging. He describes dementia as a mental or cognitive disorder that involves forgetting things around someone and also the inability to learn new things among older persons. For instance, you find an older person who can no longer remember their own children and they have to keep asking who they are every time they meet.

He says the best way to keep dementia at bay is not to allow an older person to remain isolated. He notes that loneliness is a great killer.  Actually research shows that lowliness kills older persons 15 times faster compared to smoking. In addition, it disorganizes immunity and brings issues such as dementia. As such, Namara, says it is in support of managing loneliness.

He recommends doing things that delay disability in old age such as simple examples. Namara explains that if an older person has a stroke and is entirely dependent on other people, stress, and depression set in. Consequently, this can lead to dementia.

"Helping the older persons cope with dementia begins with fighting stigma through use of religious teaching and general sensitization to the public about caring for older persons," he says

A common example of stigma is where people find it meaningless to invest money in older persons whose brain is aging and cannot think or talk.

Namara says young children should be taught to respect and care for older persons as early as their right nursery school.

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