JUNE 18 — After spending roughly 30 minutes, frantically trying to register my parents in the Astra Zeneca vaccination list, I finally succeeded and breathed a sigh of relief. But just as I was about to call it a day, I remembered a few of my aunties and uncles whose registration status I was not aware of. A wave of anxiety hit me, so I called up my cousins to remind them to register their parents.
Then my thoughts went to my mother’s last remaining paternal uncle and aunt who lived alone and perhaps, needed help too, with getting vaccines. I dialled their number immediately. Hearing their frail voices, I asked if they had been able to register but they simply told me they could not find the right button. So I spent another 15 minutes on the website before successfully putting their names in the pipeline.
With all honesty, I felt relieved that they were both mobile and functionally independent, so we did not have to worry about bringing them to the vaccination centre. They were happy to travel on their own.
Unfortunately, not many people are as lucky. Many older adults today – as a result of complications of chronic diseases or frailty – become physically impaired that they have to depend on others around them for daily assistance. This can be become more complicated when the older person lives alone, or has no family members nearby to offer regular support.
Imagine a frail older adult living alone, and unable to use the smartphone, going through this pandemic. While most us remain ‘hyperconnected’ to the internet in lockdown periods as a way to combat our daily boredom, we forget that some elders out there are not just alone but unable to enjoy the full benefits of technology. Lest we forget that during the first movement control order in 2020, there were reported cases of deaths among older adults who lived alone, and whose bodies were found only several days later by concerned neighbours.
Today in Malaysia, many older adults live alone. A local study in Kuala Lumpur reported approximately 7% to 8% of older adults living alone, while another study in rural Kelantan found the prevalence to be close to 9%. This is almost 1 in every 10 senior citizens.
Living alone exposes older adults to many risks. If the person is physically and cognitively robust, we can worry less. However, if the older adult is frail, or has history of falls, or is not fully mobile, they are unlikely able to fulfil their daily basic needs through simple activities such as cooking, using toilet, transferring, grooming, bathing, dressing or climbing stairs.
Another consequence of living alone is feeling lonely. While making distinctions between these two is important (not everybody who lives alone is lonely!), older adults in this living arrangement are definitely at higher risks of loneliness. Loneliness may sound like a trivial matter but make no mistake about it – numerous studies have shown that loneliness does not only contribute to cardiovascular diseases, it also leads to early death!
Older adults live alone for various reasons. Sometimes, that is the only option they have because their children have moved to the city for education or work. In other instances, older adults may be unmarried or widowed or childless. They may not have any immediate family members who live nearby. Yet there are older adults who are neglected or abandoned by their children, leaving them vulnerable and dependent on others’ mercy.
In the midst of this challenging period, we need to keep an eye on neighbours and people in our immediate surroundings. If we know an older adult living alone nearby, try to reach out and offer help. See if he or she needs groceries or any assistance with basic activities like cooking, moving around or taking medicine. As we have all become experts in Grab Food and Shopee, using these skills to help older adults obtain their needs can reduce our guilt for binge online shopping.
If our own parents, or uncles and aunties, or grandparents live alone and away from us, check on them regularly. Call them or send them messages, to know how they are coping and assure them you are available (if you’re not, you will get someone for them). These are simple tasks that can ‘mean the world’ to them. As older adults tend to fear the idea of becoming a ‘burden’, it is common that they do not openly complain or share with us their difficulties. It is thus our duty to find out, while not assuming that everything is okay when they are quiet.
Most importantly, keep our parents and older relatives updated on the latest information about COVID-19, its containment measures and vaccination. Ask if they need help with vaccine registration, or if they require a visit to the doctor. As much as we are eager to get them a smartphone, helping them navigate the tool is equally important.
Let us not be bystanders, and offer help to people around us more generously.
**This is the personal opinion of the writers and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
