Page 1849 - Week 09 - Thursday, 19 October 1989
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aspect of it - the difficulties imposed by the mere fact that they were born women.
Apart from this aspect of women's issues, there is the issue of poverty, because most poverty occurs amongst the aged. Most of the aged in this community are on a pension. Our report was not a welfare report; it concerned the aged in general. But that is another aspect that needs to be considered.
And, of course, there is the matter of health. For their age, many of the older people in our community are quite healthy, but inevitably the older they get the more infirm they get. The ageing are not, by definition, disabled. The majority never have need of specific services or accommodation and never lose the ability to lead active and satisfying lives. Indeed, they continue to positively contribute a great deal to the community as a whole, often through voluntary work. The committee recognises the independence of these people and supports all policies which help them to maintain their independence.
There is obviously that tendency for people to become more frail with increasing age. The over-70 age group often referred to as "the frail aged" are the group most susceptible. This report has considered the full range of supports that are currently available to the more dependent members of the ageing population and, inevitably, we focused on that group.
The report supports current programs which are designed to enable people to maintain the maximum independence. These range from programs such as Home Help, Handyhelp, community nursing and so on, which enable people to remain in their own homes. It also recognises that, for a number of reasons, many people remaining at home may be isolated and that many home based programs provide a vital link with the wider community.
The committee believes that additional funding should be targeted to home and community care in order to extend the existing programs and develop new ones. It believes that the home and community care program, HACC, is a most valuable program. The range of programs it encompasses provides a clear demonstration, among other things, of the dedicated work that is carried on for the aged in this community.
The committee also examined accommodation for the ageing, including self-care units, hostels and nursing homes. It found that the most urgent need was for a convalescent home to which patients could be moved from acute care wards in hospitals to prepare them for their return home. The committee learned that the ageing, and in particular the frail aged, were particularly susceptible to the immobilisation syndrome which compounded the health problem for which they were admitted to hospital. So a convalescent home might be seen as our first priority.
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