Yogya to get comprehensive one-stop aging center
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
As people's life expectancy has extended -- an indicator of the country's success in the development of community health, there are more and more elderly people waiting for treatment.
But the increase in aging population does not necessarily result in an increase in the number of centers providing comprehensive services for the elderly.
The problem has caught the attention of Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University (UGM).
"Our idea, basically, is to establish a geriatric hotel- hospital where the elderly will find it enjoyable and comfortable for medical treatment. It is indeed a hospital, but offers hotel- standard services and accommodation," said Triwibowo, an internist and geriatric expert at the university's School of Medicine.
The idea has started to materialize with the official opening of a geriatric clinic on Jl. Andong Baciro, Yogyakarta, opposite to the Mandala Krida Stadium. The clinic occupies a 750-square- meter space on the first floor of the former north wing of UGM's three-story Dharma Putra dormitory building.
At present, the clinic only offers out-patient care but is planning to provide inward care services on the second floor within two to three years, including education facilities on the third floor.
"In fact, all the buildings on the 1.5 hectare plot of land has been allocated for the Jogja Aging Center, not only the former dormitory building. We are now looking for interested investors," said Triwibowo, who has been named as project coordinator of the geriatric hotel-hospital or Jogja Aging Center (JAC), as it is named. He added, however, the continuation of the project would depend on how the newly-opened clinic operated.
For a start, the plan to turn the buildings into comfortable wards, treatments rooms, laboratories and other special facilities for the elderly was estimated to at least Rp 40 billion.
Special facilities for the elderly would include non-slippery floors; lavatories with specially designed doors -- with its lower parts open to enable people from the outside to monitor what is going on inside, in case something happens to the elderly using the lavatories; higher chairs and benches comfortable for the elderly to sit on; and firm handles installed on the walls along the hospital's corridors.
"For the moment, we'll see whether our plan meets the people's needs," said Triwibowo, adding that on paper, the figures showed the plan had a prospective future.
The optimistic tone came from the fact that Yogyakarta is home to some 400,000 aging people of 60-years-old and over, or some 14 percent of the city's population.
Across the country, there are 14 million aged population, or about 7 percent of the total population. The percentage is predicted to rise to 14 percent in 2025.
According to the Ministry of Health's data, the average person's life expectancy in Indonesia, has extended within the last 30 years, from 55-years-old in 1970 to 70-years-old in 2000.
The data was an indicator of the country's success in developing community health, as the number of senior citizens reaching 60-years-old had quadrupled in 2000 compared to 6.6 million in 1980.
Triwibowo explained that growing old is a normal biological process, however, the elderly were vulnerable to both physical and mental diseases.
The elderly, he added, usually encountered three main problems: health, nutrition -- like obesity or malnutrition, and immobility. Health treatment for the elderly is not easy, since it has be administered integrated, taking other health aspects like nutrition and immobility into account.
"In this case, a thorough medical evaluation conducted by a team of doctors is very essential," said Triwibowo, who also heads the state-run Sardjito Hospital's Geriatric Clinic.
The plan for the Jogja Aging Center would offer integrated health care services under one roof and provide education for members of the community and research activities on gerontology and geriatrics.
"We will also make the center as an information and data center on geriatrics and hopefully, will work with the government in developing programs and policies on geriatrics."