Caring for the elderly

Dec 16, 2019

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How families can support older parents

Caring for our older people should never come as the second priority. As the festive season sets in, Agnes Kyotalengerire gives tips on the kind of help we should extend to the older people to enable them to live a happy life.

In Muchwini, a remote village of Kitgum district, Pamela Atimango, 76, sits in her ramshackle hut surrounded by a bush. Her hands shaking, Atimango strains her eyes to pick and place the pieces of coloured palm leaves to weave the mat she has been making for the last month.

A small kettle covered with soot sits on 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.

Atimango says her hut leaks and whenever it rains at night, she is forced to 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 and above. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) projections of February 2019, Uganda has got a population of 1.47 million older persons. Of these, about 828,200 are females.

Arthur Namara who is a gerontologist who treats physical, mental as well as handling emotional and social problems of older persons, thinks even amidst financial constraints, children should support their older parents. Namara says this can be achieved through remaining connected.

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

Kezia Mukasa the co-ordinator of Grandmothers Consortium, an umbrella organisation 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 emphasises 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 such as high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, dementia and cardio vascular 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 for them," Menya says.

He 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.

Stigmatisation

Menya says older persons face stigmatisation 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 them from seeking care and treatment and as a result, some die of diseases that could have been treated.

Dr. Frederik Nakwagala, a geriatrician (a physician who specialises in care of the elderly and treating diseases that affect them) working with Mulago Hospital, says there is the 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 Health centre IV, regional and referral hospitals, yet majority of older persons can only easily access health centres II and III.

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

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.

Nakwagala notes that support goes beyond having a house to live in but rather having someone to talk and smile to. But with the pressures of work for survival, 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 government.

Namara 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 oneself and also the inability to learn new things among older persons. For instance, 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 loneliness kills older persons 15 times faster compared to smoking. In addition, it disorganises immunity and brings issues such as dementia.  

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

Helping older persons cope with dementia begins with fighting stigma through the use of religious teaching and general sensitisation to the public about caring for older persons.

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

He says young children should be taught to respect and care for older persons as right from nursery school. 

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