WHY MOVE TO A FACILITY FOR SENIORS?
October 1 was International Day of Older Persons. It is therefore fitting to consider our own ageing process and how our needs might change in the coming years. Independence and control over our destiny is much prized in Western culture.
The process of ageing has different lessons to teach us: lessons of vulnerability; the need for support, given and received, which creates a sense of community; the value of relationships, family in particular.
Many of us are seeing our families scatter across the globe. Planning for a time when we may need increasing support becomes critical to meaningful ageing and quality of life.
Eking out an existence in one or two rooms in the ‘family’ home, with few friends to drop in, family far away, skyrocketing maintenance bills, as the garden becomes a jungle, is not necessarily quality of life.
Yes, help and assistance can be bought, but it costs, and is this an antidote to loneliness?
Management by crises becomes a real possibility and this usually means having to accept what is available and what your children decide at the time.
Change is always difficult. It is important to realise that you are not ‘giving up’ your house and busy life, you are choosing a different lifestyle that will better meet your needs as you age.
KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC, Nonhlanhla Khoza, recently made an impassioned plea to all citizens to build a country that is safe and secure for older persons.
She said the safety of older persons is everyone's responsibility, but it starts in the family, the community and the society.
Khoza said the elderly deserved love, respect and support from younger generations; adding that it was crucial that government invested more time and effort in the protection of senior citizens.
The MEC was speaking on International Day for Older Persons, which is celebrated on October 1 every year.
The provincial chairperson of the Senior Citizens Forum, Daphney Memela, said they wanted government to consider ways of developing older persons.
She said that today’s world demands people to be knowledgeable about technology.
"We cannot be left behind as senior citizens. Today, meetings are held on computers and we also want to learn how these technologies work,” Memela said.