GERIATRIC CARE AND ASSISTED ELDERLY CARE IN MALAYSIA

The lives of older people are being impacted both directly and indirectly by globalization, technical advancements (such as those in transportation and communication), urbanization, migration, and shifting gender roles. These present and future patterns must be evaluated in order to create strategies for the public health response. Between 2012 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years will nearly double from 11% to 22%(1)

In 2050, 80% of older people will be living in low and middle-income countries. The world’s population of aged 60 years and over will increase from 1.4 billion in 2020 to double (2.1 billion)  in 2050. To make sure that their social and health systems are ready to benefit from this demographic transformation, all nations must overcome significant obstacles, and we as leaders play vital role in promoting senior care and geared to tackle issues pertaining geriatric.

Malaysia can see a rising tide of older people, and will need to swiftly develop systems to cope with this, at the same time recognizing any ethnogenic factors that will influence future health and social care needs. Seniors experiencing loneliness can benefit from community living or Senior Living Centres, in a variety of ways both physical and mental. Some of these benefits include:

• Life Enrichment Activities – Senior communities frequently provide opportunities for residents to participate in enrichment activities with other residents eg: games, group exercise or simply social hours with coffee. This can help in mental health and dealing with many psychogeriatric problems eg dementia, Alzheimers, Depression etc ,therefore as leaders we should emphasis and campaign the benefits to geriatric age group to change the typical mindset of Asians regarding Senior Care Homes.
• Nutritious Meals -This is an important entity for healthy lifestyle, however, when living alone, seniors frequently fall into the habit of not eating well-balanced meals due to difficulty in meal preparation or decreased income. Community living for seniors provides well-balanced meals ,perhaps we leaders should suggest the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as in developed countries ,to provide nutritional benefits to supplement the food budget to senior care centres so that they move toward self-sufficiency.
• Peer Support – One challenge for seniors living alone is adjusting to their changing surroundings. Residents in senior community living are surrounded by people in similar situations who understand where they are in life.

Although there are policies to support ageing population, the existing welfare supports are not adequate in most of the states. More importantly, the public is not aware of such supports therefore as leaders we hold the responsibility to campaign and promote senior Care via existing media platform. All  undesirable actions  like  abandoning their  old  parents could have been prevented if the public is fully aware and informed. We as a leader should increase support group and join hands with the higher authorities to ensure high quality elderly care setup not only in Peninsular Malaysia but also in Sabah and Sarawak

Dr Maria Sarojini
Managing Director
Peters Elite Care Geriatric Centre