Home care takes away senior citizens' loneliness
Home care takes away senior citizens' loneliness
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The aging population and limited number of nursing homes for
senior citizens has prompted HelpAge Indonesia, a foundation
especially established to help the elderly, to initiate a pilot
project called home care program.
HelpAge Indonesia director Eva A.J. Sabdono said on Tuesday
that the pilot project began in May and would continue for two
years.
"Under the program 36 volunteers visit 46 senior citizens at
their respective homes at least once a week. During the visits,
the volunteers engage them in conversation so that they will not
feel lonely," she told The Jakarta Post.
"This program is very important because many elderly people
live alone in their homes due to the limited number of available
nursing homes."
For the time being, the pilot project -- which receives
funding from HelpAge in South Korea -- is being conducted in
Tegal Alur subdistrict, West Jakarta. Due to the limited number
of volunteers, some have to take care of two elderly people.
The aging population due to the increasing average life
expectancy from 43 years in the 1960s to the current 64 years and
the changing concept of family from extended families to nuclear
ones have seen many elderly people entering nursing homes either
on their own initiative or that of their family's.
Eva said the pilot project could not cover around 400 elderly
people living in the subdistrict, but she claimed that those who
joined the program have started to enjoy the visits of the
volunteers.
She also hoped that the home care program could be used as a
model to help senior citizens in cities.
An official with the City's Mental, Spiritual and Social
Welfare Agency Djoko Haryanto said the city's eight nursing homes
and four private ones could only accommodate 900 people, whereas
he estimated there are around 8,000 elderly people living alone.
He said that his agency might adopt the home care program,
pending an evaluation in two years. However, he added that should
the agency adopt the program, it must consult with the City
Council first as it would involve the city budget.
According to Eva, the government's budget allocation for the
senior citizens is in line with the resolution of an
international congress on elderly people in Madrid in April 2002.
Indonesia participated in the congress and signed the resolution.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued a presidential decree
on June 22 on the establishment of the National Commission for
Senior Citizens (Komnas LU), which is tasked with monitoring the
government's programs for the elderly, among other things.
The commission will have 25 members consisting of
representatives of relevant government officials, non-
governmental organizations activists and academics.