On my way downtown last Tuesday morning, I opened my WhatsApp messages to see photographs of an elderly woman tied to a wheelchair with a wound on her forehead. She appeared to need a bath. They were sent with an urgent appeal for help by her daughter living overseas, who had been sending funds for her care. I later found out that a social worker from the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) had visited the lady and was working with the family to ensure her safety.

Our team was heading to Gordon House to make CCRP’s presentation to the special select committee of the Senate mandated to develop legislation for the care and protection of the elderly. As the image of this poor lady flashed through my mind, my voice cracked at times. It has been a long road for CCRP, as we had activated our advocacy in 2017, writing releases and corresponding with representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Ministry of Health.

Let us applaud Senator Professor Floyd Morris who moved the motion to push this legislation forward. It was seconded by Senator Sherene Golding Campbell, who immediately agreed to chair the Senate committee which began hearing submissions within a few months. We are grateful for the comments and suggestions made by the members at the meeting last week — senators Golding Campbell and Morris, Senator Dr Sapphire Longmore, Senator Sophia Fraser Binns, and Senator Kavan Gayle.

Survey Results

Some 400 participants of our membership of over 12,000 Jamaicans islandwide, from every walk of life, participated in our surveys. Fifty-one per cent of the members who responded said they had seen elder abuse. They were asked what type of elder abuse was witnessed and 29 per cent reported physical abuse, 57 per cent indicated emotional abuse, 33 per cent identified financial abuse, and 59 per cent said neglect.

One member noted, “Sexual abuse of old men by younger women — seducing the old men to gain access and control of their money is very prevalent. One case — bank accounts drained and elderly man found starving in his apartment. The young woman tried to gain access to investments and property but there was an intervention.”

Another wrote, “I have been aware of elderly not wanting to complain or wanting you to say anything for fear of repercussion or abuse afterwards. Yes, they become fearful and are prepared to settle for anything.” This is why we are proposing that there be a Court for the Elderly and a Commission for the Elderly to provide security and assurance for complainants.

A distressed member wrote, “My experience has been observing the shameful way that seniors are treated at the NIS [National Insurance Scheme] offices. Four friends and I have been utterly frustrated trying to do business with the NIS offices.” We have been appealing and there has been good response; we will be represented on a project steering committee for an electronic alternative by CCRP General Manager Angela Patterson.

Care Home Standards

Regarding care homes, 73 per cent of respondents had families who used the services of a nursing home: 83 per cent reported a good/fair experience; of the 17 per cent who reported a poor experience, 32 per cent noted poor nutrition and 29 per cent noted neglect.

A member wrote, “I am encouraging CCRP to start advocating for the construction of nursing homes (across the island) to care for elderly with dementia etc. It is very difficult to find a suitable home that can accommodate [them].”

Our submission calls for legislation for the licensing of care homes and annual inspections. We understand that there is a shortage of inspectors and suggest that the competent personnel at the NCSC be trained and allowed access to assist in monitoring these establishments. We are also calling for cameras in public areas to keep checking on operations. A friend told me recently that there was a resident at the gate of a care home calling for help, saying that her bed sheets had not been changed for a month.

In the case of financial abuse, we are recommending that financial institutions ask account holders over 70 to ensure that they have a joint account holder. We related an incident in which a caregiver took a lady with dementia to the bank and got her to withdraw a tidy sum, which she stole. We are urging banks to establish guidelines to prevent such incidents.

We also call for seniors to give a trusted person power of attorney to conduct their business if they lose their cognitive skills. However, Senate committee chair, attorney-at-law Sherene Golding Campbell, explained that someone with power of attorney would not be able to access the elder’s bank account; only someone who is given legal guardianship could do so.

Clearly the frequency of elder abuse reports calls for swift actions and stiff penalties to deter wrongdoers.

Wellness and Safety

Our CCRP members have complained about the lack of parks where they can safely exercise, so we are calling on the Ministry of Labour and Social Services to collaborate with the Ministry of Local Government to establish areas similar to Emancipation Park and Harmony Beach Park in every parish.

We are happy that a petition we circulated for the reopening of the Rockfort Mineral Bath, signed by over 2,500 people, helped to push the envelope for the good news we received this week. We are incredibly grateful to the Caribbean Cement Company for keeping communication open and for the generous features that they are adding to the costly renovation.

As we reflected on the dangers to elders living alone — fire and natural disasters — we are calling for a division of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management to serve the elderly in collaboration with NCSC, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and the Jamaica Fire Brigade.

The Senate committee also heard excellent presentations from Sandra Latibeaudiere, lecturer and the section head/unit coordinator for the Social Work Programme at The University of the West Indies, Mona, and Dr Brian Kazaara, president of the Jamaica Association of Psychiatrists. Latibeaudiere noted that there is a 6 per cent prevalence of dementia in Jamaica, and with our growing elderly population, called for a National Dementia Plan. She mentioned depression as a worrying factor and recommended cognitive testing. She said the existing community health teams should be equipped with specialists to address these issues.

Dr Kazaara noted the importance of ethics, respect, patient autonomy, and advocacy. He said elderly patients should be allowed to speak for themselves and emphasised that dementia is not an inevitable condition for the elderly. He underlined the importance of cognitive testing and bemoaned the inequity of the delivery of services in rural areas.

In our CCRP outreach activities we see how woefully underserved our needy elderly are, many of whom live in volatile areas. We are grateful to DSP Natalie Palmer-Mair, Sergeant Jerr Johnson-Heron, and other kind officers for assisting in distributing our care packages to destitute elders.

This proposed legislation is everybody’s business. It will not only protect the elderly of the present, but also Jamaicans of all ages — the elderly of the future.

Jean Lowrie-Chin is an author and executive chair of PROComm, PRODEV, and CCRP. Send comments to lowriechin@aim.com.