Elder Abuse and Respect for the Elderly

The Asahi Shimbun
(Japan September 18, 2007)

A little village in Hyogo Prefecture held a gathering in 1947 to show respect for the elderly and to ask them to share their wisdom and life experiences. It is said that this was the origin of the national holiday--Respect-for-the Aged Day. It has been exactly 60 years since then. At that time, the average longevity in Japan was roughly 50 years old. Now, the expected life span is 79 for men and 85 for women. Japan is an exceptional country in terms of life expectancy.

Not only are Japanese people living longer, their lifestyles in old age are beginning to change. What is especially striking in recent years is the rapidly increasing number of people over 65 years old living alone. There are as many as 4 million of them. With the increase of the "nuclear family," fewer people live with their grown children. There are those who live alone after bereavement, and those who chose not to marry. Living alone allows certain freedoms and few hassles.

Some people are good at living on their own, and enjoy the benefits of their lifestyles to the hilt. But there is another aspect to living alone that cannot be ignored. Many elderly people living alone actually want to be with people, but they have no chance to mingle with neighbors or have no friends.

Elderly people who want to have more contact with their neighbors must not just wait around for a chance to come along. (my emphasis) They could go to the local community center and join a hobby group, for example. Making a point of talking to your neighbors is a good thing, and not just for the elderly.

Communication helps to create a safer community, (my emphasis) and will be the first step toward creating an atmosphere that's comfortable for everyone. On Respect-for-the Aged Day, those are the kind of things we would like to think about again.

Source: Global Action on Aging

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A great concept! Perhaps other countries can look at adopting such move - Declaring a certain day in the year as "Respect the Elderly Day".

There is no doubt that older people in most countries around the world will need special care and attention from their community and government agencies.

Elder Abuse in the general community (i.e. not in care facilities) is easily perpetrated if the older persons have no one to go to for help.

Promoting Respect for the Elderly is, I believe, one of the many steps we can take to prevent elder abuse. Perhaps we can try out such programs at schools.

The elderly citizens of every country have valuable knowledge, experience and skills to share.
We must involve the younger ones in these programs.

Elderbloggers can do our bit to promote Active Living, eradicate Ageism, and help disseminate information. We can publish and broadcast the fact that Elder Abuse is NOT ACCEPTABLE in any society. By examples, we can show the younger ones that we are not "a burden" but a valuable resource - we have much to contribute.