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| Tuesday, 28 October 2003 |
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by Dr. E. S. Thevasagayam, Acting Chairman, HelpAge Sri Lanka Sri Lanka is fortunate in having one of the highest life expectancies in the world especially among the developing countries. Welfare programmes of successive governments since independence have helped to reduce mortality and to increase the life expectancy, but planners did not foresee the need to look after the end product of this policy which has resulted in an ageing population. Retiring age being 60, persons could expect to live for an average of twenty years without being able to lead the productive life. In the developed countries, older persons get a lot of assistance from the State which includes a pension, special housing and other benefits. We in Sri Lanka have not come to that level of care. So that care and welfare of the older persons became the responsibility on Voluntary Non Governmental Organizations. HelpAge Sri Lanka is the premier Organization committed to improve the quality of life of older persons. Towards this objective HelpAge (a) gives financial assistance to elders' homes to improve their physical facilities. (b) promotes establishment of Day Centres and helps to run them in the initial stages. (c) The Eye care programme provides much needed spectacles for elders in need and facilitate cataract surgery free of charge. And also give the implants free. (d) And others. Government runs three homes for elders catering for about 600. NGOs run about 150 elders' homes catering for another 6,000 older persons. This number is about 1% of the total need. Currently elder's homes are still not generally accepted by the people of Sri Lanka, except out of dire necessity. Elders would rather stay with their children and children feel a sense of guilt placing a parent in a home. Elders would rather stay at home and cared for by their families. But especially in urban areas it is becoming more and more difficult to families to take care of their older persons especially when they are feeble or disabled. Some private organizations provide home care but the cost beyond the means of average citizens of this country. HelpAge Sri Lanka started the Home Care Project by training people to provide the services at a much lower cost. This programme had to be given up because it is not within the mandate of HelpAge Sri Lanka to charge fees. So the Voluntary Home Care programme has been started as a viable alternative. Voluntary Home Care Project In this Project young volunteers are trained to provide the services in their community to the elders in need. This concept is accepted by the government and by the international community. Volunteers are recruited on the basis of Medical Officers of Health (MOH) Division of the area and provided with three months training both in the classroom and practical training in the field in elders' homes. Training consist of ageing process, basic nursing healthcare and attending to the other needs of the older persons like washing, cleaning, walking, taking them to the doctors, etc. HelpAge pays an allowance of Rs. 1,000 per month per volunteer. They are expected to supplement the income. The volunteers have to work 2 or 3 days a week to provide care for elders in need in the community. Pilot Project has already been implemented in the districts of Ratnapura at four MOH areas - namely Balangoda, Imbulpe, Opanayake and Embilipitiya. The impact has been evaluated by an international expert team. It is expected to expand this programme to other districts on the availability of funds. It costs about Rs. 20,000 to train a volunteer for three months. The out of pocket allowance given to them is extra expenditure. It was given to understand that the national Council on Elders has accepted this programme as a viable strategy to provide much needed care services to the Sri Lankan elders without removing them from families. It is hoped that by providing care services at homes the families can keep older persons in their homes satisfying their inborn instinct of their families, so that they could be happy in their own familiar surroundings with their loved ones and enjoy a better quality of life until their death. |
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