I wanted to write a simplistic and even funny column about how other cultures are so much better than Australia when it comes to caring for their aged.
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I wanted to say stuff like, ‘if only I was born in Italy’.
But how could I be funny, when we learned from media reports last week, that some aged care homes allow only three incontinence pads a day to each resident? Not funny.
How could I be funny when I know the angst people like my mum feel at 89, not clear on how they will spend these final years and clinging desperately to independence, no matter how much it hurts?
How could I be funny, when I turn 60 tomorrow and become officially invisible?
When I searched ‘aged care for dummies’ I wasn’t surprised to see that like fast food and cigarettes, aged care nursing home services started in the US.
Did you know that aged care homes evolved from the early 20th century’s poor houses?
The very first aged care homes, in the US, after the Great Depression, were for elderly people too poor to care for themselves; they were also called work houses.
Meaning, it wasn’t so long ago that aged care nursing homes didn’t exist.
And in one or two countries they still don’t.
In Spain and Italy: When it comes to caring for the elderly there’s still lots of emphasis on family support.
Normally, Italian and Spanish institutions and communities only get involved if an elderly person has no family; aged care homes are regarded as the “last resort”.
Funny that, last resort, rather than the super-shiny ‘senior living resorts’ in places like Florida?
China: By September of 2017, there were more than 12,500 private nursing homes in China with more than 93 per cent also providing aged medical services in care.
Sounds good doesn’t it?
As well, the ratio of nursing beds for those incapable of taking care of themselves rose from less than 30 percent in 2015 to 46.4 per cent this year.
Too good to be true?
Perhaps not, because 2122 nursing homes that didn’t meet the required standards were closed during a special campaign conducted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2017.
Would such a big stick work here?
By 2020 there will be 487 million Chinese aged more than 60. Look out Freycinet!
India? Has the second highest population of elderly people in the world.
Of a 1.5 billion population, there will be 300 million Indians aged more than 60 by 2050.
Reportedly, India has among the globe’s worst standards of aged care, which debunks my image of big, extended families in India caring for their elderly.
In Britain? They put their elderly into care homes.
They didn’t even have heating and individual toilets in care homes until the ‘60s.
Standards of care are in decline as fees paid do not cover cost of service. Sound familiar?
According to the UK government the care home sector is worth around $28 billion a year, with around 410,000 residents.
The average resident pays $1500 per week.
But even with such revenue, the sector had a $1.8 billion shortfall in 2017.
In Africa? Well, for our elderly friends in sub-Saharan countries, (75 per cent of Africa) aged care, according to the World Health Organisation, is almost non-existent, falls to women and girls and is sub-standard. Grim.
So, it looks like getting old is getting harder. EVERYWHERE.
Except Norway!
They have a 71.1 per cent employment rate among their seniors, which explains why Norway has the lowest old-age poverty rate at 1.8 per cent, and 100 per cent pension coverage for adults over the age of 65.
Did someone say Bingo?
