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Challenges of the new old age: they advise avoiding hospitalization, but the intermediate options are few or expensive

2020-02-24T10:21:11.578Z


In 20 years the population of more than 100 would triple. According to experts, the type of assistance to each person must be adapted. Companions by schedules, spend the day in a home and telecare, among the options.


Paula Galinsky

02/23/2020 - 15:59

  • Clarín.com
  • Society

The "passive" population does not stop growing. As shown, it is enough to stop at one figure: according to the National Registry of Persons, 15,491 adults over 100 years of age or older live in the country and estimate from the INDEC that the number will triple in 20 years . Before, the most common, when the person began to lose abilities, was to take them to a nursing home. Today, specialists recommend intermediate options such as assistance with caregivers or the possibility of going to a home just to spend the day. However, it is not easy to access these "grays . " Free alternatives are limited and you pay very expensive.

“It is not good to admit someone who does not need it because it becomes more dependent. There is research that shows that when a person enters a residence and stops using money, they lose memory . The same goes for other cognitive skills, ”explains Ricardo Iacub, head of Senior Psychology at the UBA.

Hence the importance of adapting assistance to the person . “If you need mild help, you can have a home companion between 2 or 3 hours per day. There are day centers or hospitals where they can learn computer science, do yoga, participate in a workshop for memory and interact with others. There are also university courses for older adults, ”says Iacub, which adds telecare as a strategy , a“ panic button ”that the older adult can activate if he falls or feels bad.

A recreation workshop in retired centers. Photo: Juano Tesone

The gerontologist Eugenio Semino, who is the Senior Director of the Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires, warns that the intermediate options "are limited." "Few access for different reasons: there are not enough places, there is only offer in large urban centers or services are expensive, " says Semino. “It cannot be that we go from total autonomy to hospitalization, but that happens a lot. The geriatric is an antique. In addition, lodging in this type of sites a person who needs partial assistance can aggravate his picture ”, he adds.

“There should be alternatives: in Capital, for example, there are public day homes that work very well. The issue is that we would need more quantity to cover the demand. There are experiences of shared or supervised house by social workers or nurses although they are few. The same happens with caregiver programs: they are scarce, ”Semino warns.

And it emphasizes that the path is not simple either if the decision is made to admit the person: “The Pami covers geriatrics for between 35 and 45 thousand pesos a month and there is a waiting list of up to eight months . One of a higher standard of care costs more than double, about 100 thousand. ”

Mirta Tundis, national deputy and specialist in the subject, says that "the ideal is that the elderly be at home and close to their affections" and agrees that "there are missing proposals accessible for that stage and preparation of caregivers."

“In the nursing home, the person gets worse, anguishes and gets sick,” says Tundis, although he clarifies that it is often difficult to find a caregiver. “You have to look for the right companion: you can't put anyone in the house, it has to be someone who takes care of it and doesn't mistreat it. Someone prepared who, at the same time, must be paid a salary accordingly, ”he adds.

Tundis says that day homes are a good option: “I have been presenting projects for older adults but they are not being treated. One of them has to do with the creation of day homes. There are in the City, but you cross General Paz and you have nothing, ”Tundis details.

Recreation and containment spaces as an alternative to hospitalization in a retired center. Photo: Juano Tesone

María Cecilia Tomasino, from Quilmes, says that in May 2018 she realized that her mother, now 90, could no longer be alone. “One morning the house almost burned down because of a pot left in the fire. That day, I took her with me and then I was sleeping with her in her apartment for a while until we decided to hire caregivers, ”says Tomasino. “We took her with my brother to a gerontologist and it was he who told her that she could not continue living alone. We didn't want to send her to a geriatric because we thought she could decay, ”he says.

Today the care scheme includes two people who accompany it. "She is little alone, between 13.30 and 16. I have my engineering studio right above her house and I am attentive at that time," says Tomasino, who plans to keep that routine as long as I can. "To cover the expenses we are using my mother's retirement and my father's pension already deceased, " says Maria Cecilia.

Guillermo Puddington made a similar determination in relation to his mother, 92. “They have an acceptable health. You can chat, it recognizes you and it is physically fine but it has the limitations of anyone of its age. Walk a little, get dehydrated easily, need help to bathe and be reminded when to take medications, ”he says.

The welcome sign in the workshop for older adults. Photo: Juano Tesone

“She was gradually receiving assistance . First, she had a person who was going to help her with cooking and cleaning. Today she has three caregivers to cover eight hours a day and on weekends, ”says Guillermo, who earns a retirement, a pension and his mother's savings to receive what he thinks is best for her. “If later we have to put the children money, we will also do it. We believe that the geriatric is for a person who is disconnected and, fortunately, is not the case. ”

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Source: clarin

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