Retirement planning key to preventing elder neglect, forum hears

Elder neglect often begins years before old age because many people fail to plan for their future care, the founder of a Lautoka care home says.

Daulomani Safe Home founder and director Edwina Biyau said Fiji needed to stop viewing elder neglect solely as a family issue and instead encourage people to prepare for ageing.

Speaking at the Dignity for All Ages: A Call for Elder Care, Justice and Universal Human Rights forum at the Lautoka City Council Chambers today, Mr Biyau said many cases of neglect could be prevented through better retirement, healthcare and long-term care planning.

"We tend to forget that we are ageing. We tend to forget that we are going to get sick, sick in terms of dementia and disability and bedridden," he said.

Mr Biyau said many people spent their lives building assets, supporting their children and investing in property but overlooked planning for the realities of ageing.

Drawing on years of experience, he said many residents at Daulomani Safe Home came from financially secure families with well-educated children, challenging the perception that elder neglect was simply the result of uncaring relatives.

"The gap is not the children. The gap is not the loved ones. The gap is you as an individual to plan your life when it comes to terms that you are going to be ageing."

Mr Biyau said neglect extended beyond abandonment.

"Neglect is not only when you put your elderly person out of the house or you turn to forget them. Neglect is when you limit their services, limit their voice, limit their decision-making, limit their space, and limit their accessibilities."

Daulomani Safe Home accommodates 70 residents and is supported by eight volunteers, many of whom are survivors now living at the home.

The organisation receives referrals from the Ministry of Health, the Department of Social Welfare, the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, mental health services and other agencies. It provides care for neglected older people, people living with HIV and other vulnerable adults.

Mr Biyau urged Fijians to include long-term care, healthcare and financial security in their retirement planning.

"If you can make a plan for your family, for your children, for your business, for your home or for studies, you can do exactly the same plan as for yourself."