Ministry zeroes in on healthier ageing

Apr 21, 2017 News

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-advocates for respect, tolerance, and dignity for elders

Through the establishment of an elderly health strategic plan, seniors living in Guyana will be able to age with dignity, maintain their independence, if possible, play active and valued roles within society, and have their rights respected and upheld.
In this regard, the Ministry of Public Health will be tasked with not only focusing on just preserving and prolonging life, but also on enhancing and improving the importance of the life of senior citizens.
This notion was amplified yesterday when the Ministry of Public Health at a consultation forum at the East Coast Demerara Grand Coastal Inn, presented a situation analysis on elderly health care in Guyana.
The analysis represented a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Public Health and PAHO/WHO which, according to Minister within the Public Health Ministry, Dr. Karen Cummings, underscores the seriousness with which elderly healthcare is being treated.
“The information gleaned from these consultations will inform issues like improving quality of public health for the elderly, establishing better coordination of health care services, improving access to service, improving service quality, and extending service capacity,” Minister Cummings quipped.
In establishing pathways to healthier ageing within the Guyanese society, the Ministry of Public Health, through its programme for the elderly, will ensure that it optimizes opportunities for physical, social, and mental health, in order to enable older persons to take an active part, without discrimination, in society.
This notion was emphasized by Minister Cummings, yesterday. “Our senior citizens must enjoy, as much as possible, an independent good life characterized by respect, tolerance, and dignity.”
But one major challenge in effectively addressing healthy aging is dealing with the burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) on senior citizens, Minister Cummings said.
“It cannot be denied that with aging comes the risk of developing chronic disease and disability.”
“As we focus on introducing our strategic plan for elderly health care, strict measures will be in place to provide primary health care that will guarantee that optimum benefits will accrue to this special group of people.”
According to the Minister, “…the implementation of policies to promote healthy lifestyles and disease prevention activities throughout life are essential to ensuring that people live healthier as well as longer lives so that they can continue to fully contribute to society well into old age.”
“As we strive to bolster our elderly health care services, better efficiency will be derived in identifying health risks and detecting diseases earlier.”
This therefore means that timely intervention and prevention of complications, in a multi-disciplinary approach under excellent primary care settings will be the result of establishing best practices in elderly health care services.

It was therefore the expectation of the Minister that at yesterday’s forum “many brilliant ideas would emerge on how we can best improve the elderly health care services we provide.”
She moreover urged those in attendance “that you promote discussion of the goals of medical care and suggest means to facilitate appropriate ways of implementing these in practice, using the resources available.”
While good health is essential to human happiness, the Minister noted that it also makes an important contribution to the economic progress of an individual as well as a country. “It is often times said that the health of a nation’s people is its wealth.
“We must acknowledge that the human capital of a nation includes the elderly. Therefore, while emphasis is placed on other areas of public health in Guyana, attention must be accorded to the seniors in our society,” the Minister underscored.
Commitment is focused on delivering the best quality public health care and services to everyone living in Guyana, including the elderly, Minister Cummings said.
The Minister emphasized that preserving the wellbeing and quality of life of seniors “must be handled with the utmost priority as moves are made to continuously explore more strategic pathways to maximize and enhance the value of public health care provided by the Ministry to elderly citizens.”
The Minister added, “We at the Ministry of Public Health are cognizant that the provision of effectual primary health care for the ageing population improves considerably their self-care ability, encourages healthy living, and strengthens family support, which consequently minimizes significantly, illness and disability.”
Dr. Janice Woolford, Family Health Consultant at PAHO, listed some of the issues that must be taken into consideration when drafting the plan. “We look in terms of training care persons, health care providers, health professionals looking as well at meeting the mental health needs of older people; these are some other areas of priority action. Providing appropriate services for older persons with disabilities, providing care and support for the care givers preventing neglect and abuse which is still very current in elderly population looking at violence also in older people.’
Deputy Director of Social Services, Abike Benjamin-Samuels, said that the Ministry of Social Protection has been contributing to geriatric care, training exercises, infrastructure, health and fitness among other undertakings to facilitate a more robust elderly population.
Last year, the Ministry developed minimum standards for elderly residential facilities. These standards encourage persons working in these facilities to improve the quality of care provided to senior citizens. These standards also serve as guidelines, ensuring that the best health care for seniors is promoted while continually striving to increase standards.

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