Day care centre for older adults soon

Geriatric Hub, a non-governmental organisation, has expressed the intention to partner churches in the country to run a day care centre for older adults just as there are for children.

The Executive Director of the Hub, Dr Priscilla Yeye Adumoah Attafuah, explained that people could drop off their aged family members who would be engaged with various fun activities and in the evenings could be picked up by their relatives.

Dr Attafuah, who disclosed this in an interview ahead of the launch of Geriatric Hub, to coincide with International Day of Older Persons on October 1, therefore, appealed to donor agencies to assist them in that regard.

She appealed to churches to use their space to periodically organise programmes that would benefit older adults in their congregation.

Expressing concern about the absence of recreational centres in the country for older adults, she said there was the need to show concern for older adults as a society.

"In some communities in the past, we used to see these community centres where old people could go and sit, chat and play indoor games to tease their minds. But this is currently not the case.

These community centres have been taken over by animals," she said.

She, therefore, appealed to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA) to set up recreational centres in their jurisdictions so that older adults could go there to engage in fun activities during day time.

Dr Attafuah, who is also a lecturer at the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, pointed out that often, society fails to listen to older adults for which reason they do not understand them, as such, even when they are sick, it is attributed to old age.

"It’s part of ageing but it may not. If they are aware of what is happening to them, they will be able to take care of themselves. We should collaborate and have discussions with them. We should know that they are old but not dumb," she said.

Geriatric Hub

On the reasons for setting up the Geriatric Hub, she explained that after a series of data collection procedures in the country, they realised that most older adults and their caregivers were not knowledgeable about what ageing was all about.

Their aim was, therefore, to increase awareness of ageing.

She mentioned some of the activities they hoped to do to include offering training for healthcare professionals in how to take care of the aged, visiting organisations and religious institutions to educate them on ageing, organising health screening and various fun activities for older adults.

Dr Attafuah said most of the people running aged homes in the country were retired older adults who would have loved to do more for the aged population but because of their old age, they were unable to implement them.

She said the Hub, which was made up of active people, would capitalise on that to push for policies such as social well-being, health and general outlook of life, that would favour older adults.

She mentioned the team behind the hub to include nurses, doctors and psychologists.

Day of older persons

On December 14, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons. This year's celebration is on the theme:

"Aging with Dignity: The importance of strengthening care and support systems for older persons worldwide".