Govt, BARP, Soroptomists to create elder care facilities

Elderly care facilities are coming to each parish under a partnership of the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs with the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) and the Soroptimist International of Barbados, Minister Kirk Humphrey said Tuesday.

He made this disclosure at a reopening ceremony at the National Assistance Board’s Lancaster House, St James. Lancaster House is a transitional facility for the elderly and other people who experienced the trauma of a house fire or natural disaster and need somewhere to stay immediately.

Work to erect the new parish facilities is to begin next year, said Humphrey, adding that the government will be responsible for the construction while the other two entities will focus on operating the facilities.

“The plan is to have small facilities that people could transition into, and the other part of that plan is we want to find a way to be able to empower families within the community [where Government could give households] a small incentive to keep two or three older persons during the course of the day,” he announced.

“The average age in Barbados right now is 46/47 years old. By 2050, the average person in Barbados will be nearly 60 years old and that has implications for how we care for our older persons. It has implications in terms of how we provide.”

The minister added that he hoped funds would be put aside in next year’s Estimates so that at least three or four of the facilities could be built as transitional housing under the government’s strategic policy on ageing.

The Mia Mottley administration set aside $3 million to upgrade Lancaster House and the Vauxhall Senior Citizens Village in Christ Church, which is slated to be reopened in December.

Lancaster House, which was originally opened in June 2017, was in a state of disrepair and mould-infested, said Humphrey who added that he was taken aback by the conditions when he visited the site in January.

He said it was a disgrace to see National Assistance Board (NAB) workers and families seeking refuge having to endure those conditions.

The refurbished building can accommodate seven families including people who are disabled.

NAB chairman Reverend Wayne Kirton said he was concerned that many elderly people were being abandoned by their families. He said what was most disturbing was that the families only cared when their elderly relative’s pension cheques came in the mail or when they died and it was time to split their property. 

He urged Barbadians to revere retired people and urged them to assist in whatever areas they could. (SZB)