CSII - Community Seniors
Elderly and Dementia – How Everyone Could Involve and Give a Hand
We will be old and grey. Our back will be in constant pain. Our vision shall turn dim. We will find it hard to recall a memory. We are going to be tired. That is it, that is the fact that we will face when we are not young anymore. Some people are not going to have signs of elderly we mentioned above, but it is sad, sometimes we are not that some people.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I can not find any source that tells us our technology can stop the process of aging. So, ready or not, we will be there.
Being old is natural. Aging is a process of biological reality. It has its own dynamic, largely beyond human control and the best we can do is prepare for it. But, being old is not easy, especially when you live in a society where the gap between young people and the elderly increases over the years.
That is more likely the idea behind the Webinar called Elderly and Dementia: How Everyone Could Involve and Give a Hand, held by Alzheimer’s Indonesia. Alzheimer’s Indonesia is a community or a platform to share information about the elderly. This community wants to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their families in Indonesia.
Alzheimer’s Indonesia to do this by raising awareness, advocacy, acceptance, prevention, and integrated care collectively with all stakeholders on dementia in Indonesia. That is why, on May 29th, 2021, they held a webinar called Elderly and Dementia: How Everyone Could Involve and Give a Hand as part of their campaign to raise the awareness about elderly and dementia along with the roles of all generations to have a part in this matter.
This event also celebrates the national elderly day which happens on the same day when this webinar is held. Indonesian Ministry of Social Services, Tri Rismaharini, and President Director of Indonesian National Health Insurance (BPJS), Ali Ghufron Mukti, are two speakers in this online webinar.
The speakers speak about how they are appreciating what Alzheimer’s Indonesia has been doing in the past couple of years. With the power they hold in the government, Tri Rismaharini has come up with the idea of developing seniors empowerment programs (such as tour guide, storyteller for children) and creating an Elderly Empowerment Center as an integrated space for senior empowerment. Meanwhile, President Director of Indonesian National Health Insurance (BPJS), Ali Ghufron Mukti said that he will improve the system of National Health Insurance so that everyone could easily access it,
As much as the importance of the government supports and its facilities, we pointed out that all generations should be taking part in this issue. Sometimes, we do not realize that the elderly are still there living with us. Just because we rarely speak to them does not mean they are not part of society anymore. In silence, perhaps they are waiting for some of us to talk to them. Maybe, they need someone to listen to them. The best thing we can do is to give them an environment that supports, helps, and be there when we someone need each other.
Maybe we can learn from them.
And maybe they can learn from what we know.
This is called intergenerational talk.
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ― Benjamin Franklin
You can watch the webinar here:
Written by: Harun Arrasyid
