Elderly homes enriched tapping ancient wisdom

Jul 11, 2021 Consumer Concerns, News

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By Pat Dial

Kaieteur News – We would like to compliment Dr. Vindhya Persaud and her Ministry of Human Services and Social Security for their appointment of an Elderly Homes Visiting Committee. Putting aside a similar committee, which visits the prisons, there had not been so far any institutionalised visiting committee for Elderly Homes or other such institutions, such as orphanages. Dr. Persaud has therefore been a pioneer in this regard.
The Elderly Homes Visiting Committee will conduct holistic reviews of residential facilities to ensure they are in keeping with guidelines set out for them. These would include clean, hygienic and comfortable habitation – clean bed, small cupboard for personal belongings of every resident, easy access to clean and odorless toilets and bathrooms and generally clean walls and floors.
A balanced diet should be provided, catering for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians and such would not entail much extra effort. Food should be served on disposable plates and cups and if crockery were used, they should be properly washed. Residents should be allowed to receive personal gifts of necessities and food.
All Homes must carry an adequate stock of emergency medical supplies and should have a trained nurse on staff and a doctor on call. Residents for whom medicines are prescribed should have these administered to them at correct times.
Some exercise and entertainment should be provided and if the Homes have any grounds, these could be used. Offers by philanthropic persons to motor the residents in the countryside or to take them to the parks should be welcomed.
The Visiting Committee would have had all its activities mapped out and these would certainly include the details mentioned above. It would have powers to carry out investigations and examination of records held by the Homes. The Committee may assist the Homes in their record keeping, making special note of next-of -kin or close friend and any property the residents have.
The Committee Members should be encouraged to read writings on the conduct of Old People’s Homes and we would suggest they could begin with a small novel written by expatriate Guyanese writer, Beryl Gilroy titled ‘Frangipani House,’ which describes an expensive privately run Old People’s Home. Such Homes could be afforded only by the wealthy. Frangipani House should be easily obtainable as it was a text prescribed for Literature in the CXC Examinations.
The Home described in Frangipani House is of the same genre of Elderly Homes in all Western Countries: they pay every attention to the physical and material wellbeing of the residents but little concern is given to their intellectual and spiritual needs. This approach springs from the Western way of regarding the progress of a human life. In the West, we regard life as moving in a straight line from childhood to adulthood to old age and death, and Homes for the Elderly are meant to give their residents as comfortable a final sendoff as possible.
In the more ancient Civilisations such as the Indian and Chinese, a human life is regarded as having four distinct, though not mutually exclusive breaks. The first stage or quarter of life, consists of the time of student hood when one is educated and learns the skills of living in the World; the second stage or quarter of life, is when one becomes a householder, is married, has children, is engaged in the World’s work and creates for Society; the third stage or quarter of life, is when one gradually retreats from the Householder’s life to a time of public service; and the fourth or final stage, is when one moves nearer to God and prepares for the finality of death. The overwhelming majority of those in the Elderly Homes are those in the Third Stage of life and their intellectual and spiritual life should be cultivated so that they would be able to perform public service in a structured way, and continue to contribute to society as is their duty.
Homes for the Elderly could be enriched by grafting on to them the ancient philosophic assumption and activity of the Third Stage of life. For instance, residents could be helped to sharpen or manifest their creativity by meditation and at the same time, enters a realm of peace. They could be encouraged to paint, to write or play musical instruments, to tell stories to the young, to teach skills they may know or to record their reminiscences on tape or video with the help of University of Guyana students or staff. Such reminiscences could be used as primary material for research papers. They could be introduced to the use of the computer and internet to equip them for further intellectual and cultural contributions. In addition to the above, there are of course many other activities manifesting public service of the Third Stage or quarter of Life. Integrating and assimilating the concept and meaning of the Third Stage into the conduct of Homes for the Elderly would pioneer a unique innovation and would bring back a bouncing desire for life among the inmates, and replace the underlying dull pervasive pessimism of moving to death with a joyous optimism of creativity and life.
(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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