Appreciate your elders to the last breath - 2021
Sometimes there are occasions when the grandmothers do not answer us or give us any gestures, just looking at them makes us think of a motionless human being.
Sometimes when their granddaughters Hurriya, Imam or Sania kiss their hands, their eyes light up and a smile spreads on their wrinkled face. Even at the age of 7 or 8, she knows how important a grandmother's existence is. Sometimes she doesn't answer anything, but when she does, her words tremble. One day she eats yakni with pleasure and one day she sits with her face like a child.
Communication doesn't help much to figure out what's going on in their minds and what they need. Until the age of 90, she could answer, but now she sometimes expresses her anxiety only with facial expressions or barely sighing.
There is a distance due to the insurmountable barriers of time and space, and we see them descending into a ditch where there is no means of communication. Thankfully, no symptoms of the disease have appeared and we, as a family, have come together to support the slow-moving life of his family.
Zhou Dawson, winner of the Maoist Literary Prize, warns in his book The Sky Gets Dark, Slowly, based on the disadvantages of aging, that the sky mysteriously darkens after the age of 60. The light begins to dim and then you lie down on the bed just like you were laid on the bed after your birth.
Zhou's warnings, details, and suggestions for dealing with the problems that come with aging are, in fact, the situations and events that we all have to face going forward.
They explore the complex, hidden and emotional worlds of old age with great sensitivity. Aging does not always have to be accompanied by illness, nor should it be taken as a burden when a dynamic member of the family gradually begins to feel isolated.
In addition to broken bones, sore joints, and the possibility of lethargy, Zhou also warned against loneliness, inattention, deprivation of feelings of love, deprivation of love and desire for others, and putting needs and desires aside because of age. Receipt silence can be misleading. "There will come a time in life when we will need 'Mamta' but we will not be able to find a mother to take us in our arms or entertain and feed us," he writes.
Zhou used the medical term geriatric care to deal with this condition. Dr. Muhammad Shoaib Shafi, Acting President, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP), says, “Until now, the care of the elderly in our society has been the duty of close relatives. The importance of the family cannot be denied, but with the changing social population and life expectancy, it is now necessary to introduce a regular professional care for the elderly and we are introducing this special care in the CPSP.
"The international medical community attaches great importance to geriatric care," said Dr. Shafi, who is very enthusiastic about the response to the move. CPSP-trained geriatric specialists are trained to help older adults deal with a variety of issues that most elderly people are unable to address and that are why these issues are ignored.
"When you are dealing with many different problems, such as diabetes or a chest infection, each problem needs to be dealt with differently and with full sensitivity, so special skills and confidence building become a core component of care."
So far, geriatric care has not been made a subject in any Pakistani medical institution. Because caring for the elderly is considered a cultural principle and a religious obligation, the required professional skills are not considered.
Dr. Jahangir Khan, a professor at the Abbottabad International Medical Institute, says, "At present, only 10% of Pakistan's population needs geriatric care, but the number is growing rapidly."
"Our postgraduate exams only include questions about this skill as a pre-test, so it is not taken as a specialty and is ignored," he says. (On the other hand) in the UK, after completing basic medical courses, medical professionals are offered geriatric care through a 6-month rotation policy.
Dr. Jahangir adds that "through geriatric nursing, one can focus on general monitoring of physical ailments and medicines, but it is also important to take care of them psychologically." The organs of the body are working to the limit of their capacity and the reaction of the medicine may vary from person to person. We use the media to spread information about medical issues but no one talks about the personal and public needs of the elderly. In the years to come, geriatric care will be important as a holistic approach to various medical issues for the elderly and public awareness in this regard will also increase.
Whether it's to nebulize Grandma, to feed her with a spoon, or to help her with her sleeping routine, it means that our whole family actually spends its energy to 'sustain' her.
On the other hand, Mehtab Ali, a 93-year-old retired government employee, has a 24-hour attendant to take care of him and is frequently taken to hospital. Prolonged lying in bed can cause sores on the body one day, sometimes with difficulty breathing, persistent cough, or extreme weakness.
Ali, a member of a family consisting of a wife and children, is deteriorating. His condition can be expected to improve through professional geriatric care, but such a service is not available. There will be no benefit in being admitted to the hospital as the general physician will treat them as normal patients, so the specific problems that will affect their health will be ignored.
Pakistani doctors agree that just as important as what should be done to improve the living standards of grandmothers and their peers, so too is how important it should be.
Carefully place them in a wheelchair or to protect them from injuries caused by sleeping on the bed for long periods of time. Smiling or gesturing lovingly would have a positive effect on their health
Are Spraying their favorite perfume and nebulizing to make it easier to breathe may be small tasks, but it benefits both the person being cared for and the caregiver.
The darkening sky of Grandma's world and our own passionate lives are moving at a certain pace, but we believe that despite the silence that has been imposed on her life, she still has feelings of love and care, a sense of pain and happiness. The important human need to speak up and listen to others remains important. As long as an older person breathes, a human relationship is important.
Grandmother's family and caregivers must maintain this attitude at all times, whether or not there is a reaction from the grandmother. Tell me yourself, if the elderly get proper geriatric care and a little sympathy, will we still need special homes for the elderly?