The National Council on Aging today presented the finding of the situational analysis of older persons in Belize. The study was conducted between November 2009 and May 2010 with approximately five hundred older persons across the country. The analysis looked at their heath, income, living conditions and family and social support.
Dalila Ical reporting...
“The main findings of the study have indicated that there needs to be more attention placed on the care of older persons, especially with the increasing population of older persons in the country. As a matter of fact, eighty-seven percent of those interviewed feel neglected by their families even though forty-four percent live with their families or a family member.
Lindy Jeffery – Executive Director, National Council on Ageing
“When I mentioned about it is their own perception, it is the little things in the report that we can take issue with particularly about them feeling neglected for instance because we know that a large amount of older persons face neglect and that is not just by families, that is by the society in general where we don’t consider their needs. We often feel that they are being neglected and hence that’s why they dace hardship a large amount of the time.”
Other areas of concern lie in their health and income stability. The figures show that less than twenty percent of those interviewed said they were in good health. Seventy-six point six percent of them have medical problems and have an average medical expense of about twenty dollars a month. In terms of mental health, over forty seven percent of them said they suffered depression sometimes. Eighty-five percent considered that they eat a balanced and nutritious meal even though their diets do not include regular servings of fruits and vegetables.
Lindy Jeffery – Executive Director, National Council on Ageing
“When you are talking about health and nutrition we are considering because one of the questions that was in the study was would you like to get involved in backyard gardening and a majority of them said yes. Now their health might not be good enough for them to handle backyard gardening they might not be able to bend over for a long period of time, it is quite strenuous but if we could get assistance to help a lot of these older people with growing their own vegetable that will certainly increase their nutritional base and that is one of the idea, asking these questions then we have to act on it, how we are going to improve the lives of these older people by making simple adjustments.”
In terms of income, thirty-six point four percent receive a pension with over seventy percent of it from the government. Over fifty seven percent of people receive no pension or benefits.
Lindy Jeffery – Executive Director, National Council on Ageing
“It’s very interesting to look at their interpretation of their standard of living and that’s what we mainly have to go on, how do they feel about it. You will notice that the majority of them felt that they are poor, a large amount of older people think they are par and that’s their income base is that they are not receiving very much in regards to benefit. The majority don’t receive a benefit so they ultimately think they are poor. We need to address these issues, why is it that the majority does not receive a pension, why are they not safeguarded into their old age with income security.”
The analysis will be used by the National council on Ageing to develop a new National Plan of Action for Older Persons that will focus on highlighting the main areas of concern where action is needed to provide older people who are living longer with a better quality of life. And while the government has set frameworks that address some needs of older persons, Minister of Human Development and Social Transformation Peter Eden Martinez says there is more that needs to be done.
Peter Eden Martinez – Minister of Human Development/Social Transformation
“Now we need to accelerate our efforts with the evidence that people are living longer in Belize, it is clear that greater consideration must be given to policies, projects and programs to provide holistic services to older persons and an enabling environment where they can live with dignity.”
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