From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
More Residential Care Facilities Needed for Expanding Elderly Population
Oct 24, 2012 - 11:32:38 AM
Caregiver Theresa Ramsey provides Minister of Social Services and Community Development, the Hon. Melanie S. Griffin, with an update on sleeping accommodations during a tour of Pat's Senior Citizens Home and Day-Care Centre. Located just off Soldier Road, the facility now boasts 28 rooms as a result of Phase II. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)
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Nassau, The Bahamas - The need for
additional private, fully-accredited adult daycare and/or residential care
centres in The Bahamas is expected to mushroom in the upcoming years, due to
recent advances in medical science that have increased life expectancies to 70
years of age and beyond, Minister of Social Services and Community
Development, the Hon. Melanie S. Griffin
said recently.
Minister Griffin said statistics show
that “too many older persons are being neglected and/or abandoned” by family
members in their twilight years.
She said while the Government of The
Bahamas will continue to do its part to ensure a “good quality of life for the
country’s seniors”, Government cannot do it alone.
“We cannot take care of every person over
the age of 65,” Minister Griffin said.
“Naturally, it is expected that the family will assume responsibility for
the care and well-being of its older members – and many do so either at home or
with the assistance of daycare and/or residential care services – but,
unfortunately, there are families who are either unable or unwilling to do so
and more and more, we are seeing older persons being neglected or abandoned.”
Mrs. Patricia "Pat" Moxey (left), President and Chief Executive Officer of Pat's Senior Citizens Home and Day-Care Centre, takes Minister of Social Services and Community Development, the Hon. Melanie S. Griffin, on a tour of the facility following the Official Opening of Phase II of the Project. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)
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Addressing the recent opening of Phase II
of Pat’s Senior Citizen Home and Day-Care
Centre, located off Soldier Road,
Minister Griffin said the expansion of the facility was a noteworthy
accomplishment in two significant ways.
The facility, owned and operated by
Patricia “Pat” and Edmondo Moxey, has increased its bed space from 14 to 28 as
a result of Phase II and offers 24-hour care to its clients.
“Firstly, it fulfills a need for adult
day-care centres in our country and demonstrates that such a need can be filled
by Bahamians,” Minister Griffin said. “Secondly, Mrs. Moxey has shown that
entrepreneurial spirit, when combined with love and concern for our senior
citizens, can be worthy of emulation.
“Our older persons are the repositories
of our country’s memories and wisdom. Further, they would have made many
sacrifices in raising their children – often under very difficult economic and
social conditions. It is fitting, therefore, that they be cared for when they
are unable to do so for themselves,” Minister Griffin added.
Minister Griffin said the United Nations
estimates that persons 60 years of age and over, will comprise one quarter of
the Caribbean’s population by the year 2050.
Life expectancy in The Bahamas now stands
at 71 years of age, which Minister Griffin said was “a significant improvement
that has only happened in the last three decades.”
Minister Griffin said additionally, more
and more Bahamians are joining the lists of septuagenarians (persons 70-79
years of age), octogenarians (persons 80-89 years of age), nonagenarians
(persons 90-99 years of age) and centenarians (persons 100 years of age and
older), which means longer care will now be required for those persons.
“This steadily-increasing number of older
persons will also mean increased demands on our social services,” Minister
Griffin said. “That is why the expansion that has taken place here at Pat’s
Senior Citizens Home and Day-Care Centre is so significant and noteworthy because
it is facilities such as these that will help to provide the kind of loving
care our elderly will need.
“It may
not seem so to those persons not directly involved in the care of the elderly,
but it is very important to those of us who are,” Minister Griffin added.
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