First steps to caring for the elderly

I refer to the report, “Stepping into the shoes of the elderly” (Jan 17).

SingHealth’s age-friendly initiative, its Age-Sensitisation Workshops, allows younger and abled healthcare personnel to understand more about elderly patients’ needs and challenges during their hospital/medical visits.

We could keep reminding the young to be more caring and patient, but these are just words.

Action speaks louder, and one learns more when one is put in similar situations.

Elderly patients are not as stubborn as the stereotypical impression most have.

Some may have hearing loss, for instance, and only require more of our love and patience. When they are able to hear and understand us, they would be willing to cooperate.

As the secondary caregiver for my mother, who had a stroke and suffers from dementia, I understand her difficulties.

When we see medical personnel being impatient with her, we remind them that she is slow to understand and may not be able to directly answer their questions without going off track.

We thank everyone at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital’s geriatric clinic for their care and concern.

My mother often tells us that the doctors and nurses there are nicer than at other hospitals.

We hope that there will be more age-friendly initiatives so that we can keep on caring for our mother at home.

For example, elderly day-care centres’ operating hours could mirror that of childcare centres, and subsidies could be introduced for befriending or elder-sitting services for the elderly who stay at home.

There could also be modules in school to teach the young generation how to care for their elderly relatives. Caring can start from a young age.

We saw our four-year-old daughter feeding our mother spoonfuls of food and helping to clean her up after a meal.

She serves my mother water and her pills. It helps to brighten my mother’s mood.

Young children would learn good values and experiences, which would serve them well in life.