Foundation spends time with elderly in Adenta
A non-governmental organisation, 60+Foundation, has held a free health screening for about 250 elderly men.
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The elderly men were drawn from the various communities in the Adentan Municipality for their utmost devotion to their families as part of activities to commemorate this year’s Father’s Day celebration.
The beneficiaries were screened for eye conditions, prostate cancer, Hepatitis B, malaria, blood sugar, blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol levels, and given free medication, while those identified with complications were referred to appropriate health facilities for further diagnoses and care.
They were also registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme or had their insurance subscriptions renewed, and were also given grooming services, including barbering, hand and foot massage, manicure, pedicure, music and entertainment, health talks and food bazaar.
The free medical screening service was provided by medical practitioners from the Ridge Hospital, Pantang Psychiatric Hospital and the Centre for Research into Plant Medicine at Mampong.
Initiative
The President of the foundation, Felix Osom Boafo, said the foundation was geared towards addressing issues of health, social support, aged care, hospitality management, capacity building and development adding that “we are here to celebrate our fathers, but we invite the elderly women to ensure gender balance”.
He said most fathers did not pay attention to their health needs during their working years and that as they aged, it was necessary to make efforts to ensure that issues of health and others were taken seriously.
“We are saddled with life pressure in taking care of our homes and family at the expense of our health.
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We are later on confronted with several health complications which make life very unbearable after retiring from active service,” he added.
He said the foundation was established to educate, empower and motivate people who fell within these age group.
“So, we will interact with the elderly on some life experiences to help brace ourselves as the younger generation for the future,” Mr Boafo said.
He appealed to corporate Ghana, the public, the international community and well-meaning individuals to support to execute the project of putting a smile on the faces of the elderly.
The Chief Executive of the Adentan Municipal Assembly, Daniel Alexander Nii Noi Adumuah, commended the foundation for the gesture and for bringing the celebration to the doorstep of the assembly.
He advised members of the community to take advantage of the opportunity, adding that the assembly was ever ready to support any organisation that intended to emulate such gesture.
A Principal Medical Practitioner, Dr Hope Desewu, said there was the need for the aged to go for regular medical check-ups in order to know their health status.
“Out of the number of people screened, we realised that most of them had high blood pressure of 150, and sugar of 22.6.
So we gave them a start dosage and also referred them to some specialist hospitals for continuous care,” he added.
He said most of the elderly were not conscious of their health conditions, adding that early detection was the safest way to address some of the complicated health issues.
A Senior Lecturer in Social work for Ageing Studies of the University of Ghana, Dr Akosua Agyemang, encouraged the elderly men not to lose hope, but to look at life ahead while entreating families to consider the welfare of the elderly.
Commendation
A beneficiary, Emmanuel Osei, expressed appreciation to the foundation for celebrating the day with them, adding that “at least, someone has remembered us today”.
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He added that the day had given them the opportunity to seek free medical advice from the health experts, especially when most of them did not have the time to go for regular check-ups.
