Old age: Still the time for fun and laughter

Our ageing population is on the rise. We need programmes that would enrich the lives of senior citizens and we need to set in motion programmes that would enable them to interact with the younger generation.

The picture we have of an old person quietly seated in a corner, knitting, reading or even nodding is gone. Most senior citizens are educated, active and can contribute to the life of the community. They need fun and laughter!

However it is very sad to see many active senior citizens degenerate into the state of a vegetable simply by being inactive. Senior citizens, especially after the loss of their spouse are virtually at the 'mercy' of their children. If the widow or widower has two or more children, one child may take the 'responsibility' of looking after the mother or the father. They take their responsibility so far as to make the parent a virtual prisoner in the home.

I know of many such active parents kept ‘prisoner’ by the children. They are not allowed to travel by bus, or by themselves. They have to be within the four walls of the house. Even in the house they are not allowed to do certain normal activities. I know of a few ladies who have spent their whole lives caring for the children, cooking, cleaning, washing and gardening. Suddenly with the loss of the spouse all these other activities are also taken away. A woman who has spent most of her life cooking is not allowed to go to the kitchen, the garden is out of bounds, opening the front door is definitely not allowed. Travelling by bus is out of the question.

In today's context opening the door to a stranger, travelling by public transport has its own dangers. But we need to find a way to overcome these problems. Locking up senior citizens is simply custodial care, which in the long term will bring about more problems on the children. I have heard many children and even authorities in elders' homes say, “We give them good food, clothing and shelter. What more do they want?” They need a lot more, their emotional needs have to be catered to – we have to raise the quality of life for our senior citizens.

There are many senior citizens groups in and around Colombo.(See box). There is a lot of fun and laughter when these elders meet. We try to broaden their knowledge about today's world by bringing in resource persons. The Creative Hobbies group teach each other handicrafts and the products are sold at the annual Bible Society Sale. The sales are in October to coincide with the International Day of Senior Citizens. This is one of the Bible Society's social responsibility programmes.

Helpage Sri Lanka runs Day Care Centres. These cater mostly to the lower middle class. This class barrier too should be removed. Most often the employees of these Centres are addressed as 'nona ' and 'mahathaya', by the senior citizens, which should not be so.

It is the senior women who are active participants. It is rather difficult to get men to be interested in these programmes, which is very sad, as they miss out on a lot of fun. Perhaps someone could start programmes for men.

Travelling is one of the main problems. To board a bus is almost impossible, the steps are so high, the doorway so narrow and the conductor would be blocking part of the doorway! Public transport should be improved. Children who can afford it, and many can, should arrange some kind of transport for their aged parents to attend one senior citizens' group regularly. They will soon notice that their medical bill will go down!