Prospects from the Elderly Health Care Project

Positive results

The whole province has over 152,000 elderly people, accounting for 12.6% of the population, of which over 33,000 are aged 80 and over, accounting for 21.9% of the elderly. Currently, the health care of the elderly is increasingly concerned, especially the regimes and policies for the elderly are always seriously implemented.

Implementing the Project on Health Care for the Elderly for the period 2021-2025 and orientation to 2030 in Ca Mau province, the People's Committees of districts and Ca Mau city have deployed the Project to communes, departments, branches, unions, the Fatherland Front, the Association of the Elderly at all levels in coordination with the health sector to take care of the health, material and spiritual needs of the elderly, organize visits and well implement social allowances, health insurance, congratulate and celebrate the longevity of the elderly...

Elderly people are visited, examined, and given medicine at Thanh Loi General Clinic, Ward 8, Ca Mau City.

The Department of Population and Family Planning of Ca Mau province has coordinated with relevant units and localities to widely implement the Project. The activities of the Association of the Elderly have become increasingly effective, promoting the role of the elderly in family economic development, physical training, Party building, government, socio-economic development and especially new rural construction. At the same time, localities have established clubs, organized health record management examinations, updated the elderly health management software, updated the list of elderly people...

The province currently has 4 hospitals with geriatric departments and 11 examination tables for the elderly. The number of elderly people who have their health records examined and managed is over 103,000 people, accounting for 67.76% of the elderly; the number of elderly people who are regularly examined at health stations is over 108,000 people, accounting for 70.76%; over 33,000 disabled elderly people are examined for rehabilitation in the community, accounting for 21.67%; more than 3,100 elderly people who are lonely and seriously ill are examined at home by medical staff or taken to medical facilities for examination and treatment...

The work of examining, providing medicine and encouraging the elderly is always a top priority for the team of doctors and nurses of the Geriatrics Department, Ca Mau General Hospital.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuong, 76 years old, Tan Phong hamlet, Dong Hung commune, Cai Nuoc district, was hospitalized and treated at the Geriatrics Department, Ca Mau Provincial General Hospital. Mr. Tuong shared: "I had a cough, combined with bone and joint pain, and treatment at the district level did not help, so my children brought me here. The doctor examined me and gave me medicine, so now my cough has subsided. I was also assigned to have a bone and joint scan to continue treatment. The doctors and nurses of the department came to my bed to examine me and encourage me, so I feel secure in my treatment, and am optimistic to recover quickly and return home."

Suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, and joint pain, 78-year-old Le Thi Bac, Hamlet 16, Nguyen Phich Commune, U Minh District, had to undergo long-term treatment at the Geriatrics Department. Ms. Bac said: "Because of diabetes, my left eye can no longer see light, and I often have insomnia, so I am dizzy and cannot walk by myself, but have to rely on my children and grandchildren to guide me. After being hospitalized for more than 5 days, I was able to eat porridge. I feel much better than when I was at home."

There are many difficulties

Currently, the implementation of the Project still faces many difficulties.

Doctor Nguyen Cao Hung, Head of the Department of Population and Family Planning of Ca Mau province, informed that the Project has been implemented for many years but the main personnel are health station staff, volunteers and population collaborators. Meanwhile, volunteers and population collaborators do not receive remuneration; the funding to support the Project's activities is still low compared to the content of the activities and there is no funding to invest in building a pilot model of health care for the elderly.

The objectives of phase 2 of the Elderly Health Care Project are: Consolidating and perfecting the system of providing primary health care services and medical examination and treatment for the elderly; improving the capacity of grassroots health care, including commune/ward/town health stations, in providing primary health care for the elderly; improving the capacity of geriatric departments of provincial and district general hospitals (except specialized hospitals and obstetrics and pediatrics hospitals) to provide medical examination and treatment for the elderly; improving the capacity of geriatric departments of provincial hospitals to provide medical examination and treatment and technical support; developing and disseminating a model of long-term health care for the elderly. At the same time, building and maintaining the activities of a team of volunteers providing health care for the elderly at home.

Medical staff at Khanh Thuan Commune Health Station, U Minh District, examine, dispense medicine and manage electronic records of the elderly.

“To effectively promote the objectives of the Elderly Health Care Project, it is necessary to further strengthen the participation of Party committees at all levels, sectors, unions, socio-political organizations and the community in caring for and promoting the role of the elderly in the context of population aging as it is today. In addition, the Department of Health needs to advise the Provincial People's Committee to build a model of a concentrated Elderly Health Care Center so that the elderly can live happily, healthily and usefully,” Mr. Nguyen Cao Hung affirmed./.

Thanh Phuong - Contemplation

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