Dear Editor,
Dr. Henry Jeffrey has been thorough in his recent perspectives on long-term care of the elderly in Guyana.
For those unfamiliar with the subject and the plight of the elderly, be assured that you may one day be at the receiving end of what passes for elderly ‘care’ (for want of a better word) in Guyana.
The concerns expressed by Guyana’s elders and carers are not complicated or far-fetched in terms of their dissatisfaction with social care, health service and appropriate housing for the elderly (i.e. 70+ years). The problem lies in the source of supply of care, the level of developments in care and a constant existence on the margins. In a country with such a high percentage of persons on the poverty line it does not take a lot of imagination to appreciate that most of our elderly citizens merely exist. Many are systematically denied the dignity, sustenance and comfort to which they are entitled. Given our impoverished state with very low comparative incomes, low saving rates, high unemployment particularly for the over 50’s, the exodus of young Guyanese to greener pastures leaving their elderly behind and the pressure on remaining younger families and individuals to properly care, even for themselves, Government ought to act as the mainstream provider of care for the elderly.
If it prefers not to accept this responsibility, it should at least provide our private sector with annual grants and subsidies, land concessions, tax and other attractive incentives which help to release private-sector funds.
The purpose of such creative participation would be to enable and encourage the private sector to viably establish and manage care homes for the elderly. In other words it should empower the business community to act as ‘primary providers’ rather than ‘complementary’ ones. In any case as it now happens, the lack of adequate and sufficient mainstream services by default, is structuring the development of elderly care by the private sector.
There is nothing wrong with this solution once government recognizes the difficulties and costs inherent in elderly care provision particularly as it concerns specialist care such as, care for dementia elderly (particularly the growing numbers suffering from Alzheimer’s) or even at the level of providing routine 24-hour nursing care.
The current lack of a firm financial foundation to drive private sector intervention will be dramatically felt in the next decade or two as the elderly population increases significantly in Guyana. It should also be expected that with the extremely high levels of everyday stress being experienced there will be an explosion in the number of Alzheimer’s disease sufferers, and younger ones as well as other forms of dementia. It is in this context that our politicians, geriatric health professionals and citizens in general must concern themselves with funding for care and alternative models of care such as public-private partnerships. Reality dictates that our country may have to continue to manage in the absence of both appropriate and effective centrally organized mainstream care provision for some time to come.
Yours faithfully,
F. Hamley Case
