Linden Mayor seeks support for ‘elderly care’ programme

By Utamu Belle

Under the guidance of Linden Mayor Carwyn Holland, community group Linden Youth Leaders is presently in the process of rolling out a much-needed elderly care programme within the Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) community.

Mayor Holland recently told Guyana Times that such a programme was recognised to have been lacking from the community for many years and based on observations, there were a number of elderly folk in need of such services.

He also highlighted his personal experience with his father, who passed away last year, noting the struggles that families face in taking care of their elderly folk. Residents in the community have also voiced this concern, alluding to the need for quality elderly care in Linden.

“We’ve recognised that proper elderly care is something that is wanting in Linden and at a meeting with the Linden Youth Leaders, the youths would have recognised as well that it is something that we must look at,” Holland said.

The Linden Mayor also pointed to the plight of an elderly woman in the community, noting that she represented only a fraction of elderly residents in need.

“She said that some days she’s not healthy enough or well enough to cook something for herself. She’s in her seventies and she lives alone. Several times she would have said that until she feels better, that’s when she gets up and prepares something for herself. That’s a tough situation to be in as an elderly person…Those things struck me that we need proper elderly care. This is a problem that existed for many years and I believe that it’s something that needs to be addressed and with urgency. That’s just the plight of one elderly person. There’re many others who are in need of this urgent support,” he noted.

He said the Linden Youth Leaders group was seeking to commence the elderly care programme soon and as such was seeking assistance from Central Government through funding to offset the implementation of the programme and training. Holland said it was the hope that registration would commence in June. Under the programme, visits will be conducted to the homes of those registered by voluntary and permanent workers. He added that retired nurses in the community have already signalled their intention to be part of the programme, while he noted that nurses in training could also come on board, according to their availability. In some cases, Holland said, relatives across the Diaspora will also be called upon to render support as there are plans to register all elderly people in need of assistance. He added that while some persons working under the programme would be paid, others would work on a partly voluntary basis.

“There are young persons who are out of a job and this is one way of finding employment and getting our youths to take care of the elderly…In Linden, we have several persons who would have fetched this country through bauxite mining and it’s only fitting that we honour them and take care of them in their elderly age,” he said, noting that he was confident that Lindeners would support the initiative.

“We’re calling on all the youths of Linden to get on board with this,” he appealed.

Meanwhile, Social Protection Ministry’s Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit Manager Akilah Dorris said the Ministry, through the Office of the Directorate of Social Services, recently established a visiting committee for elderly facilities and residential homes across the country. She noted that it was a multi-sectoral committee, which was intended to document the needs of the elderly population and to make recommendations in terms of the facilities where elderly people reside in an effort to ensure that they cater for their physical, dietary and mobility needs.