ELDERS THANKFUL AND KEEN TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY

▶ On the International Day for Older Persons, Shireena Al Nowais meets some seniors who have plenty to say

They are the elders of society from whom today’s young people could learn much. And as the UAE marked the International Day of Older Persons, the country’s senior generation had one message: “Don’t simply ignore us”.

There are almost 700 million people around the world who are over the age of 60, presenting new challenges for every government.

Along with how to house and provide medical care, there is a need to maintain their connection with the rest of society. Loneliness among older people is now regarded as an urgent public health issue.

The vast majority of non-Emirati residents leave the UAE long before they need living assistance from others, although that may change with the news that new retirement visas are being introduced.

Many Emiratis also require special care as they grow older and more provisions are being rolled out.

“The Ministry of Community Development maintains a database and communicates actively with 25,000 elderly people in the UAE and gives them great financial and community support,” said minister Hessa Buhumaid.

“In addition to this, it adopted a national value and approach to care for elderly people, for the first generations who participated in building the country.”

Yesterday, Ms Buhumaid announced a campaign to recognise the needs of the elderly, called “Your Blessing is Our Duty”. She also opened a day care club for older people in Umm Al Quwain, the second such club in the country after one in Ajman.

The intention is to expand the centres into a nationwide network for elderly people.

To many young people, community centres may seem a relic of the past in this digital age. But for the country’s elders the chance to socialise with each other and with the younger generation is a blessing.

“The UAE government has given the elderly everything they could possibly need,” said Hafiz Riza, 77, a semi-retired Jordanian who works for Sharjah’s chess and culture club.

“All we want is to not be ignored or treated like we are senile.”

Mr Riza came to the UAE in the 1980s and worked in various jobs until he settled in Sharjah. He now spends his days playing chess at the club and volunteering at the main government-run elderly home in Ajman.

Medical and financial provision is plentiful, but he and others would like the opportunity to pass on their knowledge to young people who have grown up in a different world.

“All we want is people to talk to us and appreciate us,” he said. “Don’t ignore our opinions, our views. We have a trove of experiences.”

Mr Riza said that simple chatting helped to prevent mental deterioration and isolation.

“The mind is a tool,” he said. “When you don’t exercise it, it stops working. That is why we get Alzheimer’s and become depressed.

“No one talks to us and most of us don’t know how to communicate with the younger generation, through WhatsApp or Instagram or any technology.

“Teach us how to communicate with you and do not ignore us. One day you will age and end up in our situation and you will not like it one bit.”

There are no recent figures for the UAE’s older population but the Dubai Statistics Centre estimates they account for 6.6 per cent of Emiratis there.

It forecast this will rise to 11 per cent by 2032 and to 29 per cent in 2050.

Hassan Al Alili, an Emirati in his seventies, and his wife Awatef, 53, volunteer at elderly homes in Ajman and Sharjah.

“He can’t drive any more so I take him,” she said. “He goes just to talk to the elderly at the centre and whenever they call us to participate in an activity.”

She can see the difference in her husband when they set out for the centre, and said the interaction with friends and acquaintances sharpened his mood and mind.

“When he is back, he tells me that he feels alive,” she said. “He is happier and so are his friends when they see him.”

Getting him out of the house is always a challenge at first.

“In the beginning he always says that he just wants to stay home and starts complaining of different aches and pains, but once he leaves the house, the aches and pains disappear,” she said.

Mr Al Alili said: “The government and the rulers have given the elderly everything but they can’t force people to speak to us and that is all we need right now. Some of the elderly don’t have any family, they need friends.”

Yesterday, the ministry said the new centre would offer physiotherapy and social, psychological and health services.

“Wheelchairs and other necessary equipment are also provided,” it said.

“The ministry has developed services that cover all aspects of life, including assisting the elderly to live in their homes with their families in a secure and stable environment, as well as sheltering those in need according to the law of the elderly’s rights and providing them with adequate accommodation, including food and clothes.”

It acknowledged the need for help to “cope with agerelated problems” and medical conditions.

For another retired Emirati, Salem Al Midhani, the community centres of the Northern Emirates are a chance to keep a connection with the community.

A former security guard at a school in Ajman, he is in his seventies. Almost every day he visits the centre for the elderly in Ajman.

“I sit with them and we just talk and that makes us all very happy,” Mr Al Midhani said. “We have everything, food, clothes and round-the-clock care. We just need the company and people to pass by to say hello.”

Teach us how to communicate with you and do not ignore us. One day you will age and end up in our situation HAFIZ RIZA Semi-retired