A caregiver training was organised today 2nd October 2016 by Pusat Khidmat KADUN Pulau Tikus (Pusat Khidmat YB Yap Soo Huey) together with Friends of Senior and Charis Hospice in conjunction with International Day for Older People. Since 1990, the United Nations has declared 1st October every year to be the International Day for Older Persons. This day is celebrated by many cities to recognise the contributions that older people have given to society and to draw attention that the needs and quality of life of older people are often being neglected.
In 2015 in Malaysia, there were already more older people in Malaysia compared with youths — Department of Statistics (DoS) Malaysia recorded more people in the category of age 65 and above vs people aged 15 and below. The life expectancy of people are expected to increase further because new medicines and medical care are allowing people to overcome infections and diseases better. According to DoS population trends, people born in Malaysia in 2014 are expected to live 2.5 years more than people born in 2000; ie. babies born in 2014 are expected to live to the age of 74.7, while babies born in Malaysia in 2000 were only expected to live until 72 years old. Longer life expectancies and falling fertility rates (Families are having less babies) will cause the ageing population to continue to increase dramatically over the next three decades. By the year 2035, more than 15% of the total population in Malaysia is expected to be 60 years and older; This means that 15 out of every 100 people will be aged 60 years and above, or if there are 100 people in a shopping mall, 15 of them may be 60 years and above.
Among the actions needed to prepare Malaysia for an ageing population is the knowledge of how to care for older people and the ability to regulate and enforce quality of care. In today’s workshop, participants were taught how to understand the psychological and physical needs of elder patients and also for their carers. Topics covered include turning, moving and lifting patients, mouth care, bathing, washing hair, changing bedsheet, changing diapers, emptying urine bag, feeding, how to make your home safe for older people, and understanding the feelings of older people. The trainers today are staff and volunteers of Charis Hospice with years of experience in caring for patients in the community.
In their sessions, the trainers also highlighted that caring for a person can be stressful and therefore it is important that the wellbeing of carers are also being given enough attention. So anyone who has to care for family members or loved ones should empower themselves with knowledge, such as how to move and lift patients without hurting yourself, and must also take care of their own emotional needs by regularly taking time out for rest and enjoyment. If people use domestic workers to help with care work, the domestic worker should be given appreciation, time out and occasional treats to help them maintain motivation to give good quality of care.
Participants in today’s workshop includes people who have been caring for family members for more than 10 years, but have not been able to find information on how to care for their loved ones better. Some participants shared that they have tried consulting different hospitals and nurses, but were not able to get the information and tips that they needed. Some participants shared that sometimes they know that the way they are carrying or feeding their loved ones is not comfortable for the loved one, but they did not know how else to do it. Many were grateful and felt that the tips and knowledge that they gained today will help them care for their loved ones better. The feedback from all participants have been very encouraging and positive.
Having knowledge on how to care for patients not only ensures better quality of care for the patient, but will also make caring less stressful for the carer. Today’s workshop is the 1st time we are organising such a program in Pulau Tikus. Training was conducted mostly in English, but slides were prepared in Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia and translators were present to assist participants who may prefer training in Hokkein or Bahasa Malaysia. We limited registration to 50 persons so that participants will be able to have more opportunity for hands-on training and trainers can give more attention to the participants. However, we were overwhelmed with interest and even had participants coming from Butterworth, Bukit Mertajam, Permatang Pauh, Perlis and Langkawi. More than 50 people contacted us to sign up, so we have started a waiting list and will be organising more sessions early 2017 to cater to the demand. Anyone interested in joining future sessions may contact my office at 04-2265217 or [email protected]. Priority will be given to residents of Pulau Tikus and Mt Erskine.
The focus of today’s workshop was on patients who have become less mobile and need extra care. However, it would be better if our society is able to keep people healthy and able for as much and as long as possible. Several actions are needed to prepare for a dramatically ageing population and Kementerian Kesejahteraan Bandar, Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, together with Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Komuniti, need to play a more proactive role. Many older people end up staying at home more often because there are not enough opportunities for them to participate in society and the surroundings outside their home are becoming increasingly unfriendly to older people. The following are actions needed to extend the quality of life for older people:
Kementerian Kesejahteraan Bandar, Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan:
- Provide multigenerational community centres with enough resources to be open daily to provide a space for social activity and healthy networking in every neighborhood. Such centres can increase opportunity for children, families, people with disabilities and older people to spend time with each other and lead a meaningful and socially connected lifestyle.
- Increase emphasis and enforcement on the design of buildings and urban environment to ensure that all infrastructure are built to be useable and safe for everyone (Universal Design); that means that there should be more pedestrian crossings, roads should be safe for pedestrians, and buildings must be easy to use by people in wheelchair including families who want to go out with family members in a wheelchair.
Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Komuniti:
- Workers in care homes and domestic workers who care for patients must be required to be trained, certified and regulated to ensure that they have the knowledge required to provide good care.
- Recognising the value and importance of care services will create the demand for certified and trained carers. At the same time, training should be cheap and affordable so that everyone who needs to care for a loved one will be able to attend training to equip themselves with the knowledge and support that they need. Instead of dependence on foreign workers, the government can determine the required syllabus and provide certification for care services so that local Malaysians can get trained and offer their services to families who need help caring for a family member.
I encourage Federal and State governments, healthcare providers (hospitals) and NGOs to conduct workshops such as the one we have today so that there will be more opportunities for people to gain the knowledge they need to care for patients (elder or people with disabilities) and also to care for the carers themselves.
Caregiving Training partners:
Besides the training sessions in Pulau Tikus, the public are welcome to contact Friends of Seniors about future training sessions at 26 & 28, Lintang Paya Terubong 3, 11060 Air Itam, Penang or via mobile 017-4514258.
Charis Hospice is a non-profit organization providing free palliative care services to the community in Penang island and Friends of Seniors is a center offering a range of day care (seniors do not stay overnight) activities and services to help families take care of their elderly holistically. Both organizations will continue to run the Basic Caregivers’ Training Module 1 and is actively looking into Module 2 for those who have completed Module 1.