The General Secretary and the story of 'fighting loneliness for the elderly, picking them up in the morning and taking them home in the afternoon'

The proposal was an idea of “fighting loneliness for the elderly” and immediately received positive responses from public opinion. This is considered a humane solution, helping the elderly live happily and healthily, contributing to the realization of the goal of increasing the average life expectancy of Vietnamese people to 80 years old by 2045.

General Secretary To Lam visited Vietnamese Heroic Mother Le Thi Sau in Nghe An in May. Photo: VNA

Vietnamese people often live according to the concept of “young people rely on their fathers, old people rely on their children”. Therefore, maintaining the family model of three or four generations living together is considered a beautiful feature of family culture.

However, the country is on the path of development and integration. Young people flock to big cities to work, start families and are caught up in the fast-paced, hurried pace of industrial life. The family model of 3-4 generations living together is gradually decreasing, replaced by the young family model with 1-2 children not living with parents or grandparents. The elderly are thus gradually pushed to the margins of family life.

The country currently has about 16.1 million elderly people, accounting for over 16% of the population. Vietnam is one of the countries with the fastest population aging rate in Asia, the transition time from the population aging stage to the aged population is only 17-20 years, shorter than many other countries... We will enter the aging population period from 2036, when the proportion of the elderly group aged 65 and over will reach 14.2% of the total population. The number of elderly people is forecast to reach 25.2 million by 2069.

The elderly often suffer from illnesses. On average, each person has 3.5 to 4 or more chronic diseases when hospitalized. The older they are, the faster they age, and their health declines rapidly, leading to changes in personality. They are easily emotional even over small things, and are also indifferent, rigid, and suspicious, and care little about others because they are too focused on their own health and needs.

Besides illness, loneliness is the biggest challenge for the elderly.

When relatives and friends pass away one by one, many elderly people often live in isolation, with little contact; their eyesight and hearing decline, and their mobility becomes difficult, making it even more difficult for them to communicate with society. They are very afraid of loneliness and isolation. The only thing they need at this time is someone to confide in, but they are afraid of making new friends. The rate of lonely elderly people is therefore often higher than other age groups. Not only leading to mental health risks, loneliness is also closely related to illness, even death.

Old people often reminisce about the past. They often talk about the past and are proud of their past life experiences. They want to return to the past to relive old memories of a small world . Therefore, young people often think that their parents and grandparents are old-fashioned and outdated. This is the reason for the generation gap between the old and the young.

Vietnam has more than 4.3 million elderly people living alone or with people under 15 years old who need care support (2021 population change survey data conducted by the General Statistics Office). This report also shows that the family structure in our country is changing significantly as the proportion of elderly people living with their children and grandchildren is gradually decreasing.

Many studies around the world have shown that the elderly who are often cared for by their relatives will have a longer life expectancy than those who are less cared for. Therefore, children and grandchildren need to take care of their health, pay attention to the psychology and thoughts of their parents and grandparents. Put yourself in the position of your parents and grandparents to sympathize and accept their unusual personality traits, and limit stress in life. However, in reality, not everyone can do this, have this positive thinking.

The State's hand is needed so that the poor can also enjoy humane policies.

Resolution 72/NQ-TW sets a target of increasing the average life expectancy of Vietnamese people to 80 years by 2045. To do so, we must pay special attention to the health care of the elderly. In particular, mental health care is extremely important. Because whether living with children or living alone, the need to meet, connect, and be close to children and grandchildren of the elderly has never decreased, and even increases when they have health problems.

Therefore, among many solutions proposed for the health sector, General Secretary To Lam suggested a model of "fighting loneliness for the elderly".

Need to diversify the forms of operation of nursing homes

Has anyone ever wondered why we have so many Children's Hospitals but the entire central level only has one Geriatric Hospital! In the whole country, only provincial hospitals and above have geriatric departments, and the entire southern region does not have any geriatric hospitals. It is right to love, care for children, and give them all the best. But the elderly are also a valuable asset of the nation.

It is necessary to diversify the forms of operation of nursing homes. So that they can be a permanent place for the elderly who do not have relatives to care for them. But they can also be a place for them to stay part-time; they are picked up every morning and taken back to their families every afternoon. During their time at the center, they can meet friends and old colleagues to chat, exercise to improve their health; participate in music, culture, and arts activities... to help them relax and refresh their spirits, and in the afternoon they can gather with their children and grandchildren in the warm atmosphere of a family.

Just think about the sadness of parents and grandparents when their children and grandchildren are not with them to see that, although General Secretary To Lam's suggestion about "fighting loneliness for the elderly" is gentle and sounds like a passing story, it is very real, very humane and very real!

Ministry of Health, Ministry of Home Affairs or Association of the Elderly? Who will do this? We can also combine to implement the humane story that the General Secretary suggested to become a reality, so that all elderly people can receive the best care in their final years.

Where will the State be, where will society be in the effort to bring joy to the elderly? Because there are quite a few privately established nursing homes. And not all elderly people can afford the high prices! Therefore, the State's hand is needed so that the poor can also enjoy this very humane policy.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tong-bi-thu-va-chuyen-chong-co-don-cho-nguoi-cao-tuoi-sang-don-di-chieu-dua-ve-2443265.html