National Policy on Aging to address reintegration of seniors into society

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, March 14, 2018

The Ministry of Social Protection will be developing a National Policy on Aging, with the aim of achieving the cultural, social and economic reintegration of older persons into the mainstream of society.

Director of Social Services, Wentworth Tanner.

Director of Social Services, Wentworth Tanner explained that the policy will be used as a mechanism to enable older persons to contribute to the national development process, depending on a person’s capability.

Tanner told the Department of Public Information (DPI) in an interview today, that integration of seniors into the mainstream of society needs to be done in a more regulated manner, hence the need for a plan which will serve as a guiding document to ensure that resources are not under-utilised or wasted.

“So, it is going to be structured, and of course provide that framework that we are all headed in the same direction.”

The director anticipates that a draft document on the policy will be completed by the third quarter of this year.

This national policy is just one of the many initiatives implemented by the government to improve the lives of elderly citizens of Guyana.

In 2017, the ministry launched its first ever Elderly Residential Facilities Visiting Committee which has the mandate to ensure that senior care homes and facilities countrywide are equipped with the requisite facilities and conditions for the proper care of their elderly residents.

The National Commission for the Elderly has also started a process of initiating guidelines to help boost the operating standards of Senior Citizen Homes across the country. This is to ensure that homes and facilities homes and facilities adhere to the minimum of standards.

Additionally, the government has announced plans to digitise the old age pension system, thereby allowing pensioners to use their Identification Cards to uplift their pensions, rather than a pension book.

 

By: Synieka Thorne

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