United Nations Association of Nigeria (UNAN) has urged aged persons to be resilient to overcome challenges associated with old age.
It spoke at an event in Ikeja, Lagos State, over the weekend to mark International Day of Older Persons.
October 1 is celebrated around the world as International Day for Older Persons.
Seventy older men and women benefited from a medical outreach, including free Blood Pressure check (BP) and medications.
President of UNAN, Mrs Joan Agha, said the United Nations set aside October 1 every year as the day for older persons on December 14, 1990.
“It is the day to create awareness and let us know that we need to take care of the older persons in our family, community and country.”
With the theme: “Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World,” Agha noted that since the world is changing from what it used to be, it’s important to think about older persons and find better ways in which they should cope with it.
“We know how much our world has changed. Gone are those days when younger persons see an older person in a bus, they will get up and allow the older person to sit down. But things are not like that anymore. And some children are not taking care of the older person as they should.
“So how does the older person bounce back? How does the older person in this kind of world we are now not give up? You know, in the face of a changing world, how does the older person not give up? What does the person need to do to take care of him or herself,” she said.
The president advised children not to neglect their aged parents as old age is a blessing.
Speaking on ‘The resilience and contribution of older women in the face of environmental, social, economic and lifelong inequality,’ guest speaker, Dr Omolara Aderemi said resilience is a contributor to satisfactory aging.
The Canada-based doctor said research showed that with resilience, older persons develop coping skills and adaptive measures to age gracefully and successfully.
On factors that can promote resilience in older persons, Aderemi mentioned social ties, regular checkup, taking care of mental health, resilience, family and public contribution, eating healthy, exercising, among others.
“… We encourage them to be as close knit with their family to participate in community events, such as this one, to engage in birthdays, religious programmes and faith building programmes…
“We also talked about going for regular checkup, with aging process comes different frailties, but with regular checkup, doctors or healthcare providers can identify certain things and give prompt treatments. So, basically, we talked about resilience. We talked about contributions, we also encourage the public to know and respect our older citizens.
“As the Nigerian elders day, October 5, is coming up, we want to encourage family, children who still have older people, whether biological parents or neighbourhood, celebrate them and make them feel special. We want them to know Nigerians care about their old people, and we wish them good health.”
Aderemi appealed to government to build recreational facilities and subsidise medical fees for older persons.
“I see a lot of elderly people come into hospital. They have to wait for long hours. They have to pay the same amount for things. I know there are policies to make sure those things are better for older people. So, to increase access to healthcare, to make it more affordable for older people, they don’t have to wait in queues, that can stress them and disturb their body physiology. I believe subsidies should be apportioned to them to alleviate the financial stress of paying for procedurals.
The event was supported by Caleb Ayanwusi Foundation, Alicer Nutrition Nigeria, Mercy of God to the Aged Foundation/Moga Foundation, Ikeja Local Government and Senior Citizens Association of Nigeria.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
