ON October 1 every year, the International Day for the Elderly is commemorated under the auspices of the United Nations.  The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Resilience of older persons in a changing world”.Indeed, the entire month of October is dedicated to the elderly in most countries.  In Guyana, the state has instituted a number of programmes and events which relate to the elderly and these include the establishment of the Centenarian Club where centenarians would be given regular medical packages, food hampers, fruit baskets and regular medical checkups with doctors and nurses visiting the centenarians at their homes.  There was also an increase in Old Age pensions and improvements in mental health treatment with a focus on dementia.  The Minister of Human Services and Social Security also pledged her Government’s continued special help to the elderly.

Four or five centuries ago, comparatively few persons reached the age of 65, which was caused by the high mortality rates worldwide.  From the 19th century, public health systems began to be established; potable water became progressively available; sanitation began to be taken seriously by governmental authorities and societies across the world began to be conscious of environmental concerns.  Medical sciences made great progress in life-saving.  These improvements caused the death rate everywhere to be dramatically reduced and today, 900 million are over the age of 60 and it is estimated that by 2050 two billion people, or nearly one-quarter of the world’s population, would be classified as elderly.

The life expectancy in Guyana is 70 years, but in some of the developed countries, it is much higher.  In Japan, for example, it is 85 years.  Though most people hope for long life, ageing brings with it its own challenges and problems.  These include the fact that the human body weakens and the systems of the body begin to malfunction. This results in heart disease, hearing and vision impairment, arthritis, a tendency to fall down with the possibility of fracturing bones, restricted mobility, dementia, depression and so on.  To meet these challenges, there are many medicines available and aids such as shower chairs, walkers, grab bars, canes, and wheelchairs, some of which are motorised and rubberised anti-slip floor mats.

Most older people, except they are disabled by stroke or other disabling ailments, desire to be independent and to help themselves as much as possible.  They would try to cook, clean, pay their bills, dutifully take their medicines, shop, answer the telephone and, as far as possible, continue to do such chores and live a life of normality.

Sooner or later, however, they would require the help of some other human being, which could take the form of someone helping one around, of a caregiver, nurse, or even being placed in an Old People’s Home.   All elderly persons who would have arrived at this state would prefer to be with their families if such exists.  At this point, the elderly would have been placed in an extremely difficult position and this combined with the fear of death, make one’s last days very sad and unhappy.

The situation we have outlined above occurs in Western cultures where life is regarded as moving in a straight line from birth to death with no pauses so the various phases of human life occur as, of course, and without preparation.

In Eastern cultures, particularly the Indian with which many Guyanese are familiar, life is regarded as falling into four, though not exclusive, segments.  It also assumes that there would always be some family or community member(s) available to help in the final two Phases of life. With a notional figure of 100, the First Quarter or Phase of 25 years is spent in Studenthood when one learns the ethics of society, is educated in a trade or skill and is prepared for the world’s work.  The Second Segment or Phase is that of a Householder when one marries, raises a family and engages in the world’s work,  socially and economically.  The Third Phase is devoted to public service where one sees one’s children and family settled, renders any help to the community in kind or service and begins to prepare for the Fourth Phase.  In the Fourth Phase, one turns to God or a life of the spirit and explores the ways of conquering the fear of death.   At this stage, one may try to meet priests and religious and spiritual teachers and may use the Internet in this exploration.   One of the most common ways of achieving calm and peacefulness and dispelling the fear of death is by developing loving-kindness to the world and realising that ‘you are not your body and that death merely means abandoning your dysfunctional body’.  There are, of course, other ways.

If we could graft on some of the valuable concepts of the Eastern approach to our Western approach, a more creative way of dealing with the elderly could be evolved. For example, the residents of Old People’s Homes come from the ages of  Phases Three and Four and could be encouraged to do public service by teaching to others any special skills they possess;  or recording their reminiscences of life to University students who may find such useful in their researches;  or may go to nearby schools and tell stories.   They may also be encouraged to learn new skills or hobbies such as painting, pottery-making or short story writing.  If these positive approaches from the Eastern tradition were adopted, the assumption by both inmates and the public that going to an Old People’s Home means one is going there to die would be dispelled.
If the Eastern tradition of dealing with the elderly is synthesised with the Western, the elderly will live a peaceful, creative, respected and happier life.