SETTING THE STANDARD FOR AGED CARE HOMES

Coming up the driveway to Little Sisters of the Poor / St Francis Xavier Home for the Elderly in Cheras, KL

It was back in the 1970s that I first heard of Little Sisters of the Poor (LSP). I had imagined it to be a place where the elderly poor would spend their final years looked after by caring nuns who had dedicated their lives to God and to charity work. Being young then, I had little interest and absolutely no reason at all to visit the place.

Near impossible to find an aged care facility in the city centre with so much greenery and open spaces.

Decades later and now the founder of a seniors community, I had good reasons to pay a visit. Over the years LSP has gained a solid reputation as the 'gold standard' for aged care facilities. It has become the yardstick to measure other similar facilities.

So when the opportunity came last August to visit LSP with a group of academicians from UPM, I grabbed it. The visit was certainly an eye-opener. To say I was impressed by what I saw is putting it mildly. I was awestruck!

Let me take you on a virtual tour of LSP.

The dining hall. Great idea to use cut-out tennis balls to protect against scratching the floor.

The reading room.

The hair salon. Notice the gleaming floors at LSP. Unbelievable!

The physiotherapy room.

The sewing room. Note also the natural lighting in all the rooms.

The shop where items made by the residents and volunteers are sold.

Lounges are everywhere for residents and visitors to rest their tired feet or simply to sit down and relax.

The tea room.

The kitchen - spick and span and spotlessly clean.

The laundry room. Adjacent to it is where clothes are sorted and folded.

There are hand rails all along the corridors, and in the lifts. Note too the wall phones on every level.

A peek into one of the rooms with attached bathroom and toilet.

Benches on every level. Facilities at LSP are without doubt elderly-centred.

At the cafeteria listening to Sister share about LSP.

The main hall where the residents were enjoying some performances when we dropped in.

Colourful drawings by the residents.

Fun activities to keep the residents happily occupied.

Daily programme of activities for the month.

Group photo in the garden at the end of our visit.

It would be a challenge for most existing aged care centres to come close to LSP in terms of size, facilities and dedicated staff. Work becomes a devotion when one is serving God. Throw in cleanliness, efficiency and integrity, and you can understand why there is a long waiting list for admission to LSP.

Little Sisters of the Poor celebrated its golden anniversary last Deccember 2015. What a remarkable achievement! Pope Francis sent a special apostolic blessing to mark the auspicious occasion. I was gifted a copy of the commemorative book.

With the proposed Aged Healthcare Act to be introduced next year, the elderly in old folks home and nursing homes in Malaysia can look forward to better care and better facilities. Aged care centres that fail to meet the stipulated standards will face stiff penalties. They will also have to be licensed and registered.

I can almost see the elderly clapping their hands with glee and jumping for joy! It's been a long time coming.

WHAT THE COMMUNITY CAN DO TO PROVIDE CARE FOR THE ELDERLY

(StarMetro 27 May, 2015) 

The article 'Old Folk Too Easily Forgotten' in The Star (Metro) is posted below in full for our record, and also for those interested in reading it and sharing it. Lily Fu, founder of SeniorsAloud was interviewed for her views on what the community can do to help ensure the elderly are cared for in their own neighbourhood.

OLD FOLK TOO EASILY FORGOTTEN

by Yip Yoke Teng

For RM1,800 a month, residents of St. Mary’s Nursing Home receive care and take part in games like this race aided by nursing staff. –  Star filepics

HELPLESSNESS strikes at some point in life when ageing gradually takes away one’s physical ability. This is felt not just by the seniors, but also their children who find themselves suddenly taking on the role of caretaker.

It is projected that by 2020, 10.6% of the country’s population will be 60 years old and above as compared to 8% in a 2010 census, and 16.3% by 2040.

Malaysia is expected to become an ageing nation (where 15% or more of the population are aged 60 and above) by 2035, according to the Fourth Malaysian Population and Family Survey conducted by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN).

Our society is not prepared in almost all ways to meet the needs of the elderly. The high number of old folk abandonment may shed some light on this issue.

At wit’s ends

LPPKN’s survey also showed that nearly 30% of the seniors in the country were abandoned or received no financial support from their children.

Kim Loo Ting Old Folk’s Home’s caretaker Reverend Kai Guo said he had come across almost 100 such cases.

Residents resting in their room at the Sungai Way Old Folk’s Home. - Star pic

While not all children are heartless, it is no denying that taking care of aged parents is getting increasingly difficult especially for the middle-income group. This group is not rich enough to hire nurses or maids, nor are they poor enough to receive public aid.

Caring Old Folks’ Home founder Wendy Yap said many average-income earners had pleaded with her to take in their aged parents.

“Some actually cried when they send their parents to our home. I cannot call them unfilial, they really cannot afford providing for their parents with the city’s high cost of living.

“Many requests come from the middle-income group and we have to reject them as our home has to give priority to seniors without children,” she added.

As their parents age, it is highly risky to leave them alone at home but most wage earners are unable to quit their jobs to look after the elderly.

Nursing home becomes the more affordable choice, but the elderly will not be happy and worse still, many such establishments are unlicensed.

If the society is more equipped with elderly care services and facilities, chances are many seniors do not need to go there.

Communities can help

Retired teacher Lily Fu, a strong voice for seniors’ well-being through her blog seniorsaloud.com, feels that while the Government needs to steer its attention to such concern, the community can also build asimple support system with existing resources.

The residents’ associations, in her view, can do this perfectly.

Whenever members in the family cannot be around, the second line of support will be neighbours, who can look out for the elderly, and security guards in gated communities who can prevent them from wandering off too far.

The residents’ associations or management companies can keep a database of the doctors, nurses and caregivers in their neighbourhood to attend to their needs.

The condition of senior citizens at an old folk’s home run by the Kim Loo Ting temple in Setapak often improves with the patience and dedication of the caretakers. - Star pic

Fu said that in Ampang, where her mother lives, there is a pool of retired nurses who offer caregiving service.

“The residents’ group can also arrange for caregiving trainings, activities and health sessions that can benefit everyone in the community. All it takes is just a bit of dedication and the spirit of volunteerism,” she said.

“I call babies and seniors the bookend generations, so whatever you have for the former, you should have the same for the latter.

“For instance, why can’t you have as many daycare, recreational centres and catering services for the elderly in the neighbourhood, so that they can stay close to their children?” she said.

Furthermore, such services can be a source of income for housewives and young retirees, she added.

At the same time, society should be equipped with public facilities to help seniors stay independent.

They should build parks with amenities for the elderly to build their strength; ramps, railings, grab bars, benches, sit-down toilets and many more should be in place so that the seniors can travel around safely.

“Society needs to have the elderly at heart, just think of how we would like our parents to be cared for,” she said.

“These are simple requirements, yet our society lacks it. Malaysians seem to think it is not worth it to invest in old people. We fight for children, environment and animals which are very good causes, so why not add in the elderly?” said Fu.

She said the Government had not been proactive about elderly care.

“It is wrong to think that only the Welfare Ministry should attend to this. The health, transport and many other ministries have a role to play, too,” she said.

Asked about the option of retirement village, she said an area could easily be turned into that as long as it has a hospital, shuttle service, security, shopping, amenities, alert system and CCTV.

She is working hard to improve seniors’ quality of life but hopes more will join the crusade. Some of her “dreams” are to create a privilege card for seniors, a cafe operated by seniors and a portal for the elderly to addresses to all their needs.

Government’s slacking

Aged Care Group’s chief executive officer Carol Yip said there was a lack of awareness on elderly care and most would be at a loss when they were forced into the caretaker’s role because the relevant information were very scattered.

“The middle-class is affected most. There is no public platform they can turn to for help and information. Many nursing homes are not properly licensed, and most of them are short-handed with a lot more maids than nurses,” Yip said.

The main problem, she said, is that the Government has not shown the commitment even though the country is becoming an ageing nation.

There’s little funding from the Government for elderly care, and they are taking too long to prepare the Aged Healthcare Act.

She said the various ministries must work together to address the issue.

Yip said her company tries to mobilise the community to address the issue of elderly care. Among the measures taken are working with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) to provide TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) service, and with IMC Education on the training of caregivers.

“The caregivers’ service is RM250 one day, but if there is a higher supply of trained caregivers, the cost can be lowered,” she said.

Caregiving service, outreach programme, home rehabilitation, one-stop pharmacy, care centre and reemployment after retirement are some of the services provided by her company to elevate seniors’ wellbeing.

Yip is actually against the idea of retirement homes as they are expensive and beyond the reach of the middle-income group.

“It all boils down to the availability of quality, affordable nursing care in the area,” she said.

She said Malaysia must create its own model for elderly care because every country was unique.