MediaToday Newspapers Latest Editions

MALTATODAY 24 March 2024

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1517916

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 53 of 63

18 Unity SUNDAY 24 MARCH 2024 Dr Edgar Galea Curmi Department of Social Policy & Social Work BEFORE delving into this brief dis- cussion, I emphasise that none of the forthcoming remarks are intended as a judgment on any individuals associ- ated with the topic at hand. Whether it be staff, management, businessper- sons, consultants, decision makers, Franciscan friars, or any other in- volved party, I habitually presume that everyone's intentions are virtu- ous; however, good intentions, time and again, pave the road to hell. By the time this article is published, Malta will have "celebrated" yet an- other milestone in the development of services for older persons, a new residential facility that replaced a re- treat home previously run by a reli- gious order inspired by St. Francis. A new state-of-the-art investment that provides top quality services for older persons – the stuff of dreams for all of us who, after five or more decades of hard work, will be able to retire in the peace of a St Francis inspired retire- ment "home". But then, is it a "home"? Beyond the glossy headlines, what in developing a 400+ capacity residential facility has been driven by the best interests of older persons? To what extent does such a facility contribute to older persons' sense of security, sense of purpose, sense of belonging, sense of competence, sense of identity, sense of self-actualisation? Let's start from some basics. The Constitution of Malta, in line with Universal Declaration of Human Rights, unequivocally protects any citizen's right for respect of one's pri- vate life. Yet, unless one is extremely privileged, either by virtue of one's fi- nancial resources or by some special political patronage, no older person living in a publicly funded residential placement has this right guaranteed. Imagine being compelled to leave your own home for whatever reason, being admitted to a residential facility, and with all that you would have had to give up you are also forced to give up your privacy, placed with a roommate not of your choice. And only if you are lucky are you spared the trauma of being in a room with two or three other older persons. I've made this argument before and have often been given the flippant reply that older per- sons love company. Yes indeed, don't we all... when it is actually us that choose whom to keep company with! Privacy is not the only loss. Run- ning a 400-person facility necessitates structure and procedures to keep the enterprise well-oiled and running smoothly. The person can no longer function as an individual, but neces- sarily has to fall in line with 'the sys- tem'. Even a simple choice like one's wake-up time is taken away. What is the reality of the publicly funded mass institutionalisation of older persons taking place under the guise of progress? I put this question to a professional colleague of mine who works in these homes. She men- tioned high staff turnover and short- age of staff, language barriers leading to frequent misunderstandings and frustrations, sub-par variety and qual- ity of food with limited choices and absence of fresh options, residents having no say in the choice of their roommates, residents' lives predom- inantly consisting of passivity, and a prevailing culture of learned help- lessness, leaning towards making resi- dents dependent on the facility rather than fostering genuine independence. So, coming back to the 400+ "home", who are the likely main beneficiaries of this milestone development? No doubt, the religious order is guaran- teed an income for 60 years so that its financial concerns taken care of, with the secured income expected to out- live the current generation of friars. The "investors" have made careful calculations on the number of older persons they need financed by pub- From retirement dreams to corporate schemes: the business of ageing and public funding What is the reality of the publicly funded mass institutionalisation of older persons taking place under the guise of progress? Elderly care How does one reconcile a strong strateg y for the deinstitutionalisation of disabled persons while on the other hand financing and implicitly promoting the mass institutionalisation of older persons?

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of MediaToday Newspapers Latest Editions - MALTATODAY 24 March 2024