Elderly Challenge - Observation 2

  My Maternal Grandparents are in their early 70's. They live in Malaysia and look after my bed-ridden aunt who is already in her 30's.

  Caring for the disabled is indeed a difficult task, but I have never heard a single word of complaint from my grandparents. Instead, they show great love and take care of all her basic needs. Here are my observations on my grandparents:

  My Grandmother
   – feeds my aunt every three hours on liquids (24/7)
   – loves gardening
   – loves cooking for the family
   – keeps fit by going for her morning exercise in the park
   – keeps herself well informed of the latest news by reading the newspaper (only after my aunt sleeps)

  My Grandfather
   – loves to sing in the choir
   – keeps active by joining the choir group thrice a week
   – takes care of shopping for groceries
   – loves to snooze on the armchair while watching TV

    Because my aunt has trouble sleeping, my grandparents have to take turns to take care of her during the night. My grandfather takes care of my aunt for the first half of the night, whereas my grandmother would take care of my aunt for the second half. Since my grandparents live in Malaysia, they look forward to our little visits. If there was an award for "The Greatest Grandparents", my grandparents would fit in the bill perfectly.

Sketch-up (ADMT)

 People nowadays tend to be more health conscious and they live healthy lifestyles.

Therefore, to plan for a room for the elderly, it is not only for sleeping, but its also for them to relax. I take considerations of the following few points:

1) No sharp edges : Furniture has to have no sharp edges and strictly to be placed along the wall. This is to ensure that there is ample space for the elderly to move about or for wheelchair bound elderly.

2) Wooden flooring: Elderly don't like tiles and marble flooring as they are too cold for their feet and they believe that cold flooring is the cause of rheumatism. Carpet is warm but it is prone to dust mites.

Wooden flooring is so far the best and safest choice.

3) Non-slip floor tiles and grab bars in the bathroom and toilet to prevent accidents.

4) Rocker switches at low height so that the elderly can reach the switches with ease.

5) Lever doorknobs in place of rounded doorknobs can help elderly who have arthritis.

Interior of the room

 Bathroom

The Exterior of the room  The closet has a little stool for the elderly to sit on when changing clothes.   

                                                  The doors are replaced by sliding doors for safety reasons, as people could bang into the door if the door had hinges.

If you want to take a look at the room, you can download this file: elderly room.skp

Elderly Challenge - Observation 1

The picture here shows YY and his grandmother. YY is trying to climb the monkey-bars.

 
Every evening when I return home from school, I would see my neighbour’s grandmother bringing her active grandson to the playground downstairs. I decided to approach her to ask her for permission for interview. She agreed willingly, to my surprise.

  Mrs Hu, who is in her late 60’s, has to take care of her grandson for the most of her time. Her schedule goes like this:

7:00am  – Wakes up, starts preparing breakfast for the family and milk for Yang Yang (YY), her grandson. YY wakes up, and Mrs Hu has to brush his teeth, then feed him milk.

9am – She plays with YY, and then start to dress him in his uniform and make him get ready for school. Prepares lunch.

8 o’clock – Brings YY to take the school bus to school.

12pm – Fetches YY

12pm  – YY takes a nap

5pm – YY wakes up and Mrs Hu will bring him down to the play ground

7 or 8 pm – Home!

  For Mrs Hu, being able to take care of her grandson and being able to play with him is simply amazing! But for her, she thinks that being able live life to the fullest is the best.

Understanding The Elderly challenge report

1) Explain in your own words, the FOUR key recommendations of the report.

 Singapore will allow older people to live as part of the family and community.
Singapore will allow older people to integrate with the community and lead active lives.
Older people who are in need of care have access to good healthcare and eldercare.
Older people will be able to lead healthy and active lifestyles.

2) State ONE way that the CAI report is recommending to make our public housing more elderly-friendly

They are changing the erroneous view that an aging society means more dependancy.

3) State TWO ways on how we can ensure that the quality of elderly care here in Singapore is affordable
We could raise the effectiveness of healthcare around here in Singapore so that the elderly can afford it, and the government can also help to sponsor the elderly people who cannot afford the medical fees.

4) After reading the CAI report, what do you are the THREE things that you can do, as an SST student, to help overcome these elderly challenges?

- I could help to raise public awareness that senior citizens need to be loved too.
- I could stage meetings with the boards of old-folks homes.
- I could start a campaign on "Elderly needs love and care, just like us"