Shelter for the lonely elderly

Often sick, lacking material and spiritual support, the homeless elderly are being cared for and nurtured at the Provincial Social Protection Center, helping them improve their health and spiritual life. The Center has become a second home for them to enjoy their old age.

Staff of the Provincial Social Protection Center encourage the elderly being cared for at the center.

Arriving at the Provincial Social Protection Center, Facility 2, Group 1, Chieng Coi Ward, City, we noticed a clean, beautiful, and warm scene. Some elderly people were riding bicycles for physical therapy, some were listening to the Center's staff instructing them on how to take care of their own health. The thoughtfulness, care, and intimacy of the elderly and staff were like a family.

77 years old, without husband or children, and alone when she was sick, Mrs. Bui Thi Chau, Group 9, Quyet Thang Ward, was taken to the Provincial Social Protection Center. Mrs. Chau said: “For more than a year at the Center, I have been taken care of by the staff in every meal and sleep. Having friends in the same situation to confide in and talk to makes life more meaningful, helps us to reduce loneliness, and makes up for the lack of affection.”

Separated from her husband, having no children, and suffering from high blood pressure, Ms. Lo Thi Xuan, a local resident in Song Ma town, temporarily built a small house on her sister's land to live in. Knowing her situation, the Center's staff coordinated with the local authorities to persuade Ms. Xuan to come to the Center for care and nurturing. Ms. Xuan shared: I entered the Center in April 2023. Here, the doctor regularly guides me on how to take care of my health, so my blood pressure has stabilized much more. Whenever I get sick, the Center's staff cooks a special diet, asks about me, and encourages me wholeheartedly. I feel very secure, more comfortable, and happier.

Currently, the Provincial Social Protection Center, Facility 2, is nurturing and caring for 48 subjects; including 40 orphans and 8 elderly people from 70 to 77 years old. From May 2022, the Center will receive and nurture the elderly who are lonely, homeless, and in difficult circumstances... At the Center, the elderly are cared for in their material and spiritual lives. They are arranged places to eat, sleep, and provided with personal items. Meals are guaranteed to be nutritious, with regular changes in portions. Every day, the elderly live according to a schedule, such as: physical therapy, some elderly people assist kitchen staff in cooking lunch for orphans, mainly doing light work suitable for their health; in the afternoon, they take care of the vegetable garden with the children to improve their health and have a source of clean food for daily meals.

The elderly are weak and often suffer from many chronic diseases, so the Center focuses on taking care of their health. Currently, the Center maintains a treatment regimen for hypertension for 6 cases and diabetes for 1 person. Arrange doctors on duty to examine, treat, monitor health, promptly detect and treat common diseases; diseases beyond the capacity will be coordinated with medical facilities to examine and treat the elderly. Guide the elderly to perform physical therapy, rehabilitation, and exercise activities to improve health. The Center's staff often talk, encourage, and be close to the elderly, helping them to have a happy and comfortable spirit. Organize activities such as reciting poetry, making cakes... on holidays, New Year, and Elderly People's Day. Thanks to that, the elderly consider the Center as their home and the staff and civil servants as their children and grandchildren, thereby building a common home with more warmth and affection.

Ms. Duong Thi Thu Huyen, Director of the Provincial Social Protection Center, said: In 2024, the Center will continue to effectively implement policies and regimes for the elderly who are being cared for. Coordinate with the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs of districts and cities to propagate, review, count and establish profiles of social protection beneficiaries who are the elderly to mobilize and bring them to the Center for care. Call on organizations, individuals and benefactors to support the Center in investing in equipment and playgrounds for social protection beneficiaries, especially the elderly.

The Provincial Social Protection Center has become a common home connecting orphans and lonely elderly people with the love of the staff, compensating for disadvantages and deprivations, helping the elderly enjoy their old age with peace of mind, contributing to ensuring social security in the area.

Article and photos: Huyen Trang

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