Caring for the elderly is a shared responsibility
I refer to this week’s Talking Point, “The hidden world of elder abuse”.
Admittedly, there would be difficulties in any care situation. How much care, how to give care and how best to care is subjective, as “care” is always gauged on a case-by-case basis.
Looking at it objectively, we have families working long hours and families with multiple responsibilities, and the uncompromising societal pressure of filial piety imposed on them. There are only 24 hours in a day.
Years ago, senior citizens congregated in coffee shops and lazed around in groups or alone, while those who needed to work kept working. It is a different world today: Can the elderly care for themselves enough and remain independent?
Are they capable of going to the food centre to enjoy a meal? Can they be trusted to lock the door and retain the key to get back in safely? Can they remember to get the washing in if it rains?
It is about shared responsibility. If I am old, cranky, difficult and useless to myself and all around me, I think I am better off in a care facility. This is a personal view.
I need to have enough sense to conduct my life meaningfully and contribute to the family caring for me to ensure my stay is about coexistence and a symbiotic relationship. As much as I enjoy being respected by all around me, I have made a conscious attempt to earn the respect and not assume that it simply comes with age.
That is the difficulty when filial piety assumes respect for nothing other than a person’s age. I hope my friends and children respect me because I have earned it, and not because of my greying hair.
As the population ages, it is important to consider the changing landscape, build bonds, earn respect, keep active and continue contributing to ensure that it is a pleasure, not a grind, to be around us and caring for us.
