If yuh poor, cat eat yuh dinner

Jul 03, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – I do not usually read the online editions of the newspapers. Sometimes, the most interesting stories are to be found offline, in the hard copy of the newspapers and, of all places, in the sections dealing with advertisements.
I like to read the advertisements and so I usually insist on buying a printed copy of the newspapers rather than reverting to the online edition. A few days ago, I scrolled through the pages of one of the dailies and noticed that the Carnegie School of Home Economics was offering a number of courses, one of which related to the care of the elderly.
It had me thinking of those poor families who have elderly and bed-ridden persons who need special care and attention. However, in many instances the family members cannot do so for two reasons. One is that they are not trained in treating or attending to the elderly; and the second is, that they often have to work and therefore cannot give the full-time attention needed to their sick elderly family members.
Obtaining professional caregivers is out of the question. This is simply unaffordable even for some rich persons. There are some nurses who work at both public and private hospitals. They moonlight by taking part time jobs taking care of the elderly who live at home. The cost of part-time nursing care is prohibitive. A few years ago, one of them was calling for $8,000 per day for an eight-hour shift. This was multiple times what she was earning as a nurse, but she realised the desperation of those who needed personal nursing care for their relatives and was prepared to extract a high price.
Even a rich family would find paying someone $40,000 a week for an eight-hour shift unaffordable since they would need that person for two shifts. As so many families are forced, to resort to asking persons whom they know but who are untrained in caring for the elderly. Often these persons help out for a small fee or for nothing out of the goodness of their heart, knowing the circumstances of the family. But they end up doing more harm than good because they really have little knowledge of caring for the elderly and sick.
The government is wasting billions of dollars each year sharing out a $15,000 per child education cash grant. They also share out an annual uniform allowance. There is no means test involved and therefore everyone, poor, not-so-poor, rich and not-so-rich benefit. That money could have been used to help provide nursing care for the elderly who are bed-ridden and require nursing care at home.
A poor man cannot afford to pay for nursing care for the elderly. It is simply unaffordable and as such, the elderly are left to suffer and punish because their relatives cannot afford to pay the fees being demanded for such care.
A poor man cannot afford to have his sick elderly parent or grandparent put in care homes. Entry into those care homes are better suited to those who have relatives overseas who can afford to send the US dollars every month. The cost can be as high as US$1,000 per month and this does not include medical care which many elderly need.
There are many housewives and non-working persons within our communities who would be willing to provide elderly care at an affordable fee. But they have to be trained. And it struck me that this is one area, which the government should look closely at.
It may be possible for two approaches to be taken simultaneously. The first one would be for the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security to employ a battery of nurses and train them in care of the elderly. At the end of their training, instead of placing them at the hospitals and health clinics, these nurses can be assigned to the private homes of those individuals to take care of the elderly who are in most need. This would be of tremendous help for poor families who have elderly persons who need special care.
The second approach would be, to identify persons within communities who are willing to undertake such training (not everybody reads the newspapers and many who do not read the advertisements). These persons should be trained in the care of the elderly. They can then use their training to offer affordable care for the elderly in their area. There would be no need for them to be employed by the State.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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If yuh poor, cat eat yuh dinner

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