Society: Bill must include elderly living with families

Provide more facilities for those in their own places of stay, says consultant

PETALING JAYA: The new Bill to facilitate healthy ageing should also take into account the elderly who live with their families, says the Malaysia Healthy Ageing Society.

Its president Prof Dr Philip George said the recently tabled Private Aged Healthcare Facilities and Services Bill 2017 mainly focused on regulating aged care homes.

He said statistics showed 72% of aged Malaysians live with their families.

An elderly person is defined, under the Bill, as someone aged 60 and above.

“With the population or demographic change, the need for better elderly care is increasing, but we feel that it is not aged care homes that we need to work on.

“The homes that are out there have to be supervised, but what needs to be done is to provide more facilities for the aged in their own places of stay,” Prof Philip, a consultant psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist, said in an interview yesterday.

Under the Bill, aged care homes housing four or more persons aged above 60 must obtain an operating licence from the Health director-general.

The licence is valid for three years and its renewal is subject to an assessment of the aged care home.

The Bill also stipulates that the homes must send annual reports to the Health Ministry and its staff must be trained in basic life support.

Prof Philip described the Bill as a step in the right direction, but said community-based care for the elderly should be encouraged.

“For instance, developers can design homes to support the aged,” he said, adding that making public spaces more accessible to the elderly would enable them to be more mobile

It will be good to include views of other NGOs who have an interest in aged care as well, so that we have a more balanced view of the monitoring of these aged care homes. Prof Dr Philip George

and independent.

He also proposed that services such as home visits by healthcare professionals and advice on finance and legal issues be provided for the elderly.

Prof Philip suggested that a council with representatives from NGOs be set up to provide feedback on healthy ageing issues.

“It will be good to include views of other NGOs who have an interest in aged care as well, so that we have a more balanced view of the monitoring of these aged care homes.

“There are many NGOs that are focusing in this area, and they can all contribute in different ways,” he said, adding that a training curriculum to train aged home care workers could be designed if a council was set up.