By VERDEL BISHOP Wednesday, October 31 2007

THERE ARE 143,000 older persons living in Trinidad and Tobago - 11 percent of the total population. By 2010, persons between ages 55 to 64 will make up the largest group in our society and in the world. This means that older persons will for the first time exceed the numbers of people age 16 to 24 in this country. By 2020 the total older persons living in TT will increase by 20 percent.

An older person is someone 60 and over.TT is plunk in the middle of an aging society.

Dr Jennifer Rouse, Director of the Division of Ageing explained, “A population is considered to have aged when the proportion of people aged 60 years and over exceeds ten to 12 percent of the total population”.

The Division of ageing was established in August 2003 to meet the needs of older persons in TT. Since then, several programmes for older persons have been successfully implemented.

Dr Rouse, is passionate about the programmes in place for the elderly. In her role as Director, she is at the forefront of making the lives of older persons more comfortable.

“We’ve held a number of public forums for older persons, to determine what their needs were. What we do is meet them where they are. We go into the communities and we meet then in church halls, school auditoriums, convention centres, and regional complexes,” Rouse explained. “We try to keep it in simple settings so that they don’t feel too overwhelmed or daunted. We find that we receive much more info from them in that way.”

One of the programmes implemented by the Division is an Older Persons Information Centre also known as a Help Desk. This is a referral facility where people call in on a toll free number and can be referred to services or products in TT that deals with elders.

“As a result of the Help Desk, we have been receiving increased calls for home care and companionship. There are situations where husbands and wives are now frail and cannot help each other as they used too. That is on the increase,” Rouse stated. She said in surveys done in 1999 and 2001 on the living conditions of seniors, some of the acute problems were health care, income security and loneliness.

Dr Rouse said there is a feeling of uselessness and unproductiveness among older persons. “What the Ministry had established in 1996 was a senior citizens bureau that took the form of a skills bank that encouraged older persons to continue to offer their specialized skills and expertise in the development process, through mentorship and similar programmes.

“This programme had not been marketed in the way it should have, because a lot of seniors did not know that such a programme existed,” said Rouse who said it is now being revamped.

“We recognise that we have to infuse and inject capital to really bump it up to work as it should. Once an elderly person has a skill that is required, that person is considered marketable. There are no boundaries,” she said.

In terms of housing, Rouse recognised that there is no consideration for the aging population.

“They were looking at high-rise and town houses to accommodate older persons. All of that is good. However, when you have an aging population there must be age friendly and accessible housing designed for older persons. For example, you have to look for flat houses, noise levels, and open spaces,” she said

“Most older persons don’t know that they have access to grants to repair their homes. The Ministry has been aggressive in hosting community outreach caravans to alert older persons that they can access these grants at the social welfare offices.”

In terms of transportation, the Ministry intends to partner with maxi-taxi shuttles to take older persons from their door to the bank, the grocery, health centre and other destinations. This is free service and seniors will dial a toll free number to request the service.

According to Rouse, older persons continue to benefit from the education system through adult education programmes. They have the opportunity to learn new skills and to promote their independence.

According to Rouse, five percent of TT’s senior citizens are in homes for the aged and although there are aging communities all over the country, the largest clusters are in Tunapuna, Piarco, Siparia Central, Couvan Tabiquite and Talparo.

“We have to keep a tab on the quality of their lives because they are living longer,” she said.