Speakers demand better care for senior citizens

Experts highlight importance of understanding the old.

KARACHI:

Speakers highlighted the love that parents and their children share and emphasised that it could not be replaced by any other.

"Bohat hi badnaseeb hoti hai wo aulaad jiske maa baap zinda ho'n aur wo unki khidmat naa kar sakein [Those children who are unable to take care of their parents are indeed unfortunate]," said Aliya Sarim Burney, during a seminar on 'Empowering Caregivers of Senior Citizens' organised by the Senior Citizen Welfare Trust (SCWT) at Karachi Arts Council on Saturday.

Burney said that she is not in favour of old-age homes and was always reluctant of opening one as she didn't want to provide people with a platform to leave their parents somewhere. However, she decided to open one after seeing old people lying on roads and parks.

Pointing out the training required by caretakers, nurse trainer Imtiaz Kamal said that there are several steps in the training process for caretakers.Kamal added that thanks to scientific advances, the average lifespan has increased, which means that people spend a longer time in retirement than what they used to before.

Aga Khan University lecturer Dr Badar Sabir Ali also underlined the importance of providing training to caretakers.

"Proper training is required for caregivers to understand the mental health of senior citizens," she said. "Dementia plagues many of them and it needs to be properly understood." After Ali, SCWT president Dr Shireen Rehmatullah also spoke about the illness. "If old people are provided with proper love from their family members then they won't need caretakers, nor will they be victims of dementia." Aga Khan Social Welfare Board of Pakistan member Saleema Hashim suggested that recreational centres should be opened for senior citizens where volunteers are trained for physiotherapy and psychotherapy.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2014.