President of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) Marilyn Rice-Bowen (FILE)

Call for senior day care centres

Article by Donna Sealy

President of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) Marilyn Rice-Bowen wants to see senior day care centres established in the country.

Speaking during an online discussion on the topic Elderly Abandonment: Causes, Legislation And Solution held on Monday evening, she suggested this as a way to tackle the vexing issue of seniors being abandoned at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and other health care institutions.

Rice-Bowen, one of four panellists, said there was a need for such facilities which would allow seniors to learn a craft and mix with each other.

“There is a need for senior day care centres on the island and we are not looking at Government to supply all of these centres. But we need to be able to take our grannies and our great-grannies to centres . . . to give you [care-givers] that little reprieve that you want or for them to mix with their peers,” she said.

“Very often when we refer to peers, we refer to peers for the younger people and maybe the 50s, but nobody thinks about peers for seniors. They want to be in company with their own so that they can learn some craft, just sit down and relax or just get outside.” (GBM)

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