Gov’t not ready to meet needs of elderly

Your paper’s article “ADB: Fewer PH families caring for elderly women” on the front page on Feb. 14, St. Valentine’s day, grabbed my attention and I am certain that of my baby boomer cohorts.

After reading the article at length, the most important question that comes to mind is what the demographics of the study population were. It would be informative to know the variables such as age range, education, socioeconomic profile, health status, etc., and their correlation to the findings of the study.

Merely saying “older Filipinos” is not an accurate profile description of the study participants. I am certain that there are those in their 60s or 70s that are still productive members of the community, and some may still be the breadwinners to their children and grandchildren who may not require “caring” just as yet but are the “care-givers.” Reminds me of the “older” construction workers, laborers, carpenters, plumbers, house helpers, and market vendors I often see in our community. The robustness of the data gathered by the studies cited, if presented comprehensively, would have given more clarity.

It would be interesting to know the factors that contribute to the lesser support by children to their older family members and the corresponding lesser expectations by the older persons which may not have been covered by the study, but would make a good subsequent future research topic. The article further stipulated that older women may be “hurt” (affected?) more as compared to men. Statistically, women outlive men, so this may explain why more women will be affected.

With the aging of the population and increase in the life span of older individuals, the findings that 22 percent of total health expenditures are consumed by persons 60 years old and above—15.7 percent of which are for chronic diseases that require long-term care—are not surprising. The statistical projection on global aging is a well-known, established fact published by the World Health Organization decades ago.

What is surprising is that our government is not ready to meet the needs of this vulnerable sector of the population.

LILY PERETE ORTICIO, PhD, MBA, RN
Former Director of Nursing
University of Miami Health System
Miami, Florida