Softening the blow of ageing

OLD AGE is not for sissies.

Not after Covid and the hard financial times that have come in its wake.

However, new ideas are coming forward to deal with the pinch the elderly are feeling.

“We have seen a decline in donor funding for nutritional programmes and other services which can be attributed to the recent inflation, as well as the recovery from disaster events affecting our province, placing a strain on our daily operations,” Tafta chief executive officer Femada Shamam told the Independent on Saturday.

She said financial support for residents had been negatively impacted because of family members losing their jobs and experiencing financial strain.

This had a knock-on effect on older people.

“In some instances, we found that elders have gone into rental arrears for choosing to help their adult children who had lost their jobs or were in financial crises.

“As a result, Tafta saw a turnaround in rental income over the past two years, leading to an increase in our debtor’s book.”

The Bill Buchanan Association for the Aged has found itself in a similar position. To help alleviate the situation, it has started to make use of a kitchen that became redundant after some downscaling and, as a non-profit company, sells home-cooked meals at below market prices.

“We decided to create something needed by people,” said the home’s CEO Dudley Fortune.

Not all the residents at the institution’s three homes are on packages that include being fed.