Has there been research in this area in your country?

I grew up in Penang, and I have served as a volunteer at the Little Sisters of the Poor, following my older cousin.  I watched and learned so much from the good examples before my eyes.  The whole history of the Little Sisters of the Poor show to us that God can touch hard stony hearts, when there is a need.  In this question, I ask you to share your experiences, and the research in this area.  Thanks.

http://www.penang-traveltips.com/little-sisters-of-the-poor.htm

This question is partly triggered in my memory when I read the abstract of Helena's paper.  She has just uploaded the full text for me.  Thanks Helena!

http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2014/2014-world-population-data-sheet.aspx

Article Pain and dementia of people living in a nursing home

It is China that is likely to have the biggest problem with this, and probably will come up with some good ideas.

Dear friends, I stayed back to work in Malaysia, although I wanted badly to go to UK, just like my cousins who grew up with me in an extended family.  They could not get a place in varsity here, but they are doing well in UK.  I was able to care for my dad and my aunt in their old age.  I know all about nursing homes and foreign maids.  It was less stressful to do a PhD, than to care for aged folks but it was a blessing and great peace came out of the experiences.  From mobile.

Thank you Dr.Mirnada for your expressions regarding above said issue, in this connection I agree with Prof. Evo Carneiro. Now days I am observing family relations are collopsing and  young people are neglecting the elders and aged  people. Every day in TV channels we are watching the many stories related  to this problem. I have noticed one thing that aged people may not adjust with their children in away from their natural habitat ( where they live years together with their peers and others) another thing is generation gap play important role, grand childrens' displine behaviour also create some problems. It is a sciological problem,  I believe tomorrow social scientists and scholars may come with good solutions to overcome this issue.Thank you Miranda for sharing my views

Dear Miranda,

As conservative as I am, I think you have chosen the human and Christian solution: remaining home and nursing your relatives. Most people follow their career and think the state and foreign people will look after their parents. They think they are able to pay with money the lack and hiatus of affection their parents and relatives need. The structure of community has been weakened and destabilised and the family as social unit will be died off.

Dear Profs, it's a social problem, yes.  But in a Chinese society or Asian society, family ties are quite strong.  Being old is not something to take lightly, and parents are given due respect.

Do you know who suffered the most when 1 airplane went missing, and the other got shot down over Ukraine?  It was the elderly parents.  

No, our universities here are not doing research on this matter.  Perhaps they leave it to the charity bodies like the Little Sisters of the Poor and the energetic individuals whose heart God has touched.  Certain things are not done in the same manner as in a developed European country.  From mobile.

What must be put in place in a community, to care for aging relatives, when children, the primary care givers, work far from home?

I'm not sure for other non-Christians, but based on my personal observation & interaction with aging old people in my church, generally they are happy and active even though at old age - I think following might help / contribute to the above:

1) Joining Senior Fellowship - they have their same age group members to interact,  socialize & care for whereby they don't feel lonely & bored.  This fellowship have many activities whole year round in which these seniors are quite occupied e.g. gathering, site visit, treats etc.

2) Church Organizes Regular Home Visitation to these Seniors - Pastors & church senior leaders also take part to interact with them & pray for them.

3) Church Do Provide Old Folk Home Services - some seniors can enroll & benefit from such services at minimal cost.

4) More & Continuous Social Campaigns (via TV, Cinema, Social Media etc) to Create Awareness among the younger generations (whether in overseas or at local) that they have the role & responsibility to care for their elders, senior parents, grand parents etc.

I subscribe the proposals of my predecessor, to mantain  senior people alive and active. 

Dear Miranda,

We are living in an atheist world. The problem is that many people banned from their brains and hearts not only God but also the love. That is why they leave alone their parents and do not realise that they will get the same from their children. I ask these people to train themselves to be accustomed to a long age without love.

This is from another RG friend:  Andras and all, at times I think that when humans 'rebel from God's laws', we are storing up trouble and sorrow.

"In my country it seems like the younger generation does not even understand that one shall care for the older generation. Health care is though good in Finland and old people stay as long as possible in their own homes. They get some help from the community as years go by. Some feel alone, other enjoy the possibility to finally do what they want to do. All depends on health and the relationship to God. Two doctors were discussing yesterday that bitterness ans disappointment as well as inability to forgive is the root of many disorders. and addictions."

Dear @Miranda, Serbia is an "old country". Many young people are immigrants, we do have 3-4 generations of economic immigrants. Kids that were born in Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland,..., USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand do not want to come back to Serbia. They do not now Serbian language mostly. 

We do have many settlements that are dying, empty villages... No solution to the problem, but smart politics which would bring young experts from abroad to Serbia. 

Dear @Miranda, let me bring to your attention two research papers that do treat the issue of aging trends in Serbia.

POPULATION AGEING TRENDS IN SERBIA FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE 21st CENTURY AND PROSPECTS UNTIL 2061: REGIONAL ASPECT.

GROWING NUMBER OF PENSIONERS AND POPULATION AGING IN SERBIA!

http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0352-5732/2014/0352-57321448687P.pdf

http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-7599/2011/0350-75991102069S.pdf

Dear Ljubomir, it's about the same here.  Many of my Chinese and Indian students want to study abroad, after this year of Matriculation.  Being in Australia or UK means freedom from the policies that operate in this country.  Many parents are willing that their children should emigrate and live and work abroad.  (I will be back.)

This trend is growing because the need to grow in material world is so demanding and challenging that who is left behind and what is left behind becomes immaterial. Now world has become global village. Ppl's aspirations have grown manifolds. I think, that the best way to tackle this is to develop a model that includes community ,local NGOs  and state machinery. This inclusive approach has worked satisfactorily at many places. Though there is no replacement of love and care of our own children and family.

Dear Miranda,

What you described in Malaysia is happening in the middle of Canada too, away from big cities like Toronto and Montreal. That is because there are always jobs to be had in big cities that attract the young people.

If the times get hard, however, the young return to their parents semi-deserted town or village to be cared by their aging parents, but the vice versa happens too. In Greece today my mother at 101 returns to my sister's, because she could not stand the loneliness and mis-treatment at the nursing home.

The nursing homes here are OK, but none of the residents are happy. It is only among relatives old people should be living.

There are around 700,000 carers in Italy, no one knows how much the underground; then their number may be higher. Their presence can be one of the consequences of the crisis of public welfare in respect of dependents (about 2.8 million, of which at least two-thirds are over sixty).

The long-term care is the nursing care needed for these patients at home or in facilities. the long-term care is poor and soulless because with limited resources and without innovation; Innovation is probably the most important and recent use of home care workers. It says that "death does not come with old age, but with forgetting." I do not believe that the availability of a caregiver represents a quality solution to the problems of disability in the elderly population.

Thanks @Michael (and all), for specific info on how this is affecting your mum.  Congrats to her on living to such a great age.  

My aunt was with me, and I had an Indonesian maid to care for her.  The first maid ran off after I paid her salary into her bank account, after a year.  The contract was for 2 years, but I should pay her a sum after 1 year of work.  In the period of waiting for the 2nd maid, I had to put my aunt into a nursing home.  It was an expensive one run by a private hospital, but I noticed that in that period, my aunt lost many of her teeth.  It means that even though we pay for the care, we may not be really receiving good quality care.  (Here is a paper on dental health of aging people.)

Article The importance of primary care in elderly oral health

Dear Barbara, in our Eastern society, children normally care for parents.  In my church, nearly all of us took care of our parents and aged relatives.  Sometimes, I see that there is a reason for them to be old and DEPENDENT on us, on me.  That was the opportunity to return the kindness and sacrifices that they had made.

http://biblehub.com/isaiah/46-4.htm

Dear Enzo, you are the first to state that there must be INNOVATION in how we approach this matter.  Now this is a great approach.  After all, nearly all our countriesand communities are  having to deal with this very very SOON.  

Here is a paper that may be considered an innovation in elderly care.  (I will be back when I can.  Thanks to all.)

Poster P-390: Robots in the care for elderly – defining users requirements

In Eastern countries, specifically India, are group societies and family members are taking care of elderly people.

In Western countries, old people home, community centres, etc. are available for elderly people.

In India such centres are not liked till today.

Such issues need very careful researches so that aging people can be looked after with honour and dignity.

Dear Subhash and all, thanks for your posts.  

Most of our old folks hope that at least a child or a niece or nephew will care for them.  There was another nursing home in my town, very near the school where I was teaching, and I sent my aunt there for a short while.  It was run by a nice Christian lady, Esther and her husband.  At first there were only 3 persons, including my aunt.  Then the business grew.  

When the second maid came, I took my aunt home again.  She was not happy at Esther's home.  When the time was up for the second maid to return back to Indonesia, I got a third maid.  Of all the 3, this was the best maid, and she was truthful, and honest.  However, within a few months, my aunt returned to her eternal home.  She was a believer, she was baptized at 75 and passed away at 86. 

(I attach a paper on frailty at old age.)

Article Frailty and Health Service Use in Rural South Australia

Hi Miranda, I am gerontologist Jan Vinita White, PhD.  Your question is provocative and a common one here in America.  Geographically distanced families are the norm except for the rural regions where families tend to cluster and stay.  I suggest approaching this from an unbiased perspective.  First, many older adults do not have children.  Second, the majority of older adults are capable of making their own plans, although many in denial do not plan ahead.  So this is not an issue of grown children making plans for their parents.  Planning ahead is key.  "Taking care of older adults" suggests that society is burdened and that older adults are dependent.  I suggest rewording and refining it.  For example, how can we ensure that all older adults receive the care and dignity they need to enhance quality of life in old age?  This is a good start.  Jan Vinita White, PhD, gerontologist

Hello Jan, thanks for the suggestion.  I have added another line:

"And, how can we ensure that all older adults receive the care and dignity they need to enhance quality of life in old age?"

Dear @Miranda, this is about Society of Gerontology of Serbia (SGS).

"In its scientific manner with lost of expertise, SGS deals with the issue of aging and elderly age, leaving a significant mark in the theory of gerontological thought not only in Serbia and former YU republics, but also in whole region. In May 2004, together with other 13 organizations SGS has formed HumanaS network, working for humane aging. Society has its representative at the National council for aging and it is member of the Cluster for the elderly.

As an organization of public interest and support, SGS is giving valuable support and individual seal to the national aging policy in Serbia. This is especially the case with participation in the National aging strategy and similar documents..."

Aging in Serbia is fine research paper about situation here.

"Serbia has one of the largest elderly population segments in the World, with 17.2% of its citizens estimated to be 65 years and older in 2007. In the period of last 50 years, important demographic changes had occurred in Serbia. In 2002, Serbian demographic situation for the first time reached the point where the number of the older exceeded the number of the youngest. In 2007 this tendency continues to persist, with 22.1% of Serbians estimated to be 60 years or older, and 21.7% to be 20 years or younger. For the same year, life expectancy at birth was estimated to 70.7 years for the male, and 76.2 years for the female Serbian newborns. Elderly represent major consumers of health services, and yet, not always do they receive the quality of care they are entitled to. Family still holds a predominant role in providing social support and care for their elderly members. During the last 30 years, number of long term care facilities (primarily aimed at old people not competent of independent living) has gone up in Serbia from 35 to 43. Yet, they provide accommodation and care to only a small number of residents, ranging from 5996 in 1976 to 12,160 in 2005. Such institutions are named "Homes for the elderly" or "Geronto centers". The aims of aged care reform in Serbia include not only better education for the medical and other affiliated stuff, but, also, improvements in intersectoral collaboration, structural reforms of the social and health care systems, innovative capacity building, and the promotion of concepts that would replace, or at least ease the burden off the traditional family."

http://www.humanas.rs/index.php?lang=en&main=society-of-gerontology-of-serbia

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20405722

Thanks Ljubomir, it's a great link.  Yes, I plan to retire quite early, to be more active serving God in church and my community in the Sunday school teaching and outreach.  I don't know if I am able to make any plans concerning the care of the aged as people like Esther have done.  Her husband helped her a lot, but he was recently called home by the Lord.  From mobile.

Dear Miranda,

Thanks for your question. I appreciated the input from Subhash, Jan, Ljubomir, Concha, and All!

There is a huge elderly population in Japan and China; however, both countries have their own challenges (e.g., a lack of elder care workers in the near future, suitable homes for the elderly, etc.). The following links show some of them:

"...The response from the Japanese government was radical. They introduced long-term care insurance, offering social care to those aged 65+ on the basis of needs alone. The system is part-funded by compulsory premiums for all those over the age of 40, and part-funded by national and local taxation. Users are also expected to contribute a 10% co-payment towards the cost of the service. The costs are seen as affordable and the scheme is extremely popular.

The result is that older people in Japan can access a wide range of institutional and community-based services, with few of the barriers to access which exist in England. Interestingly, this requires levels of public spending on social care which are broadly similar to England's, taking into account disability-related cash payments such as Attendance Allowance.

However, it would be a mistake to see this as a problem solved. The uptake of services has far outstripped expectations and the Japanese government is faced with spiralling costs. Their response has been to introduce higher co-payments for wealthier adults..."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15315206

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31901943

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2014/mar/27/japan-solution-providing-care-ageing-population

http://www.scmp.com/article/topics/invest-china/1796323/china-offers-incentives-develop-elderly-care-face-alarming-population-ageing

Since last about more than 50 years,family ties have been disrupted .The reason are not difficult to search .In the family there is different between son & daughter son are self centered they see their own interest & in certain case even after the marriage they forget the very basic fact that what their parent have contributed for them so as to help them required standing in the society .

Daughters have become a very useful assets for their parents .Their loving care,sympathy ,& smiling of their face on their parents even in their negative & unfortunately circumstance offer a comforts from their parents that the loving care of daughter will make our death comfortable & peaceful .

For aging relatives ,& community welfare institution may take care for aging members of society .But the question is a tragedy  one has why the community should take care for aging members it is not duty of children, & the members of family who are far away for development should not run away to meet their aging members who have showered their Love,Loving care & made them as a respectable standing in the society & that too where the world has become smaller one can reach abt less than 48 hrs to reach the desire destination.

The time has come that in such cases of aging person,members of family should carry out their own introspection not to forget that they are going to be in a line with aged person sometime in the life..With this one should accept that our death is also going to be our ended journey & whatever we have with us we are to leave with our empty hands.

Dear Concha and all, thanks for your input.  Re-wording has been done, and has added another dimension to this question.

Here, it's expensive to get foreign maids (Filipino, Cambodian or Indonesian) but some of us did get them to care for our old folks.  Besides that I got the sub contractor to install several grab bars at strategic places when my aunt had her first stroke at age 80.

Dear Stephen, thanks for info on how the Japanese are doing in this regard.  I'm very glad that in Eastern societies, the aged are considered, and their wisdom is respected.  Our famous octogenarian is Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the 4th prime minister, who is still active in the affairs of the nation.  (See the link.)

@Rohit, here many parents make sacrifices for their children.  They prefer the children to work and live in truly democratic places that genuinely respect freedom of speech and freedom of the press.  Period.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dr+mahathir+age&oq=dr+mahathir+age&aqs=chrome..69i57.5925j0j8&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Dear Concha, just let the mouse hover over the top right corner of that post.  And you will get a choice to delete or edit.  From mobile.  

Thanks Concha, you have 2 good points.  Parents should not just depend on daughters.  In the Chinese culture, sons are supposed to bear the main responsibility of caring for parents.  But unfortunately, with human nature the way it is, it's own daughters who do this, rather than sons and daughters-in-law.

Concerning the moving of parents to be with their children on foreign shores, what I observe is that some elderly parents can do this, but a large number do not wish to, for several reasons, best known to themselves.

I am not sure on the Health system in Malaysia however in Australia, What services you can access in the home is dependant on many factors.

1. The form of income that the person receives i.e. Pension (part or whole) or self funded retiree. A person who is on a pension can access government subsidised community services however a self funded retiree has to pay full fee.  

2. Whether or not the patient has completed an ACAT (Aged Care Assessment Team) assessment. An ACAT assessment provided the person with approvals for government subsidised community care packages, respite care or permanent care and the relevant level of care (high/low).

3. Allied Health services i.e. Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy etc. Can be accessed whilst the person is receiving a community care package however this may limit the other services that they can access for things like hygiene assistance, shopping assistance, transport, domestic tasks etc. A person can also access allied health support in the home via their General Practitioner through a "GP allied health management plan" This will give them 6 x visits in a 12 month period with the allied health.

There is much support for the carer in Australia through both government and non-government agencies. Programs such as the "Working Carers" support program, "Commonwealth Carer and Respite Centre (CCRC)" "Carers Australia" "My Aged Care" are just to name a few.

It would be good to hear from you Miranda, if you have a similar health care set-up in Malaysia

Hello Annaleese, here we do not have such good systems in. place.  Please read all the posts and you would realize that.  It's a good thing that generally children are responsible for their aged parents.  But with the need to move to another country to work, it has become difficult for the Chinese community in this place.  I cannot say too much.

 Thanks Concha for feedback and for the link.  There are legitimate fears in the minds of our folks.  We have to do our best for them and have as much knowledge as possible about them.  From mobile.

Dear @Miranda, my friend Gordan Matkovic is an author of this report.

WHO CARES? THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR LONG -TERM SOCIAL CARE BENEFITS - National report SERBIA.

The Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) is a non-contributory old age pension scheme that covers Indians who are 60 years and above and live below the poverty line. The pension scheme is part of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) that was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in August, 1995.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi_National_Old_Age_Pension_Scheme

Thanks, Miranda, Annaleese, Ljubomir, Subhash, and All, for your input into the discussion.Different countries with different cultural values have different programs for taking care of the elderly.

In Malaysia, there seems to be a dearth of viable in-home services for families whose children are working abroad and are not around to take care of their elderly family members/ relatives. It is indeed a very challenging problem!

In Chinese communities in different parts of the world, there is usually a family member/friend who can, together with some hired help or with the services in elderly homes, take care of the elderly family member.

For those who have no family members or relatives in Malaysia, they might need to:

• Seek help from the church or religious/social service organizations.
• Or the family members who are abroad might have to rely on friends and hired help to take care of their elderly family members.

"In Chinese communities in different parts of the world, there is usually a family member/friend who can, together with some hired help or with the services in elderly homes, take care of the elderly family member"

But what about in Mainland China, especially in the future?

Dear friends, thanks for your kind comments.  

@Subhash, I am thankful that Indira Gandhi scheme allows some financial assistance, but for the aged folks, they need financial support and more than that.  They need someone to be with them at home, to keep in mind the hospitalappointments, and drive them there, register at the counter and wheel them into various clinics, on various floors and in and out various lifts.  My maid was able to do just some of these duties, besides the cooking and cleaning.

My pastor used to visit my aunt and asked her would she go to heaven?  Yes.  And why should we go to heaven when we are old and unable to serve God?  Because Jesus had died for all our sins, and exchanged his righteousness to us.  From mobile.

Thanks Stephen.  Actually we do all that we can without troubling the church or the pastor too much.  The church office bearers are so busy with spiritual work and warfare.  But the pastor, deacons were all helpful.

Dear Anthony, my neighbor who visited China recently did share with us about the conditions there.  It's quite like the situation here. (Besides, the govt has recently been telling Korean missionaries to leave.  I attach the link on internet.). Nowadays there are few who adopt children in the hope that the children will care for them in their old age.  Yes, there is a need for research...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/china-broadens-crackdown-on-foreign-missionaries/article20187253/?page=all

Dear friends, I will be rather busy over the next few days.  But I will still put in some time and some posts on RG.  Your comments show that this matter needs some WISE AND CONCERNED RESEARCH.  WHO WOULD TAKE ON THE CHALLENGE?  DO WE WAIT FOR UNIVERSITY PROFS?  OR??

Dear Roland, caring for aged parents is a lot more difficult, than the other task of caring for children.  When it comes to children, they are growing from strength to strength.  But our aged parents grow more and more frail, forgetful and difficult to handle.

Besides that, with children, we can exert discipline, and they are expected to obey.  In church, parents take the biblical principles to heart.  They discipline with the cane when needed.  But with our parents, we are still the children, and they are still our elders, however dependent they become.  And if they will listen to our advice, we should be most thankful.  But my aunt was always caring.  She knew when my energy was ebbing and when my health cracked from lack of sleep.  From mobile.

Dear Concha and all, yes, we share many wonderful memories with our aged parents.  But we must be very alert.  I only realized that my aunt was hyperthyroid when she had a fall at 75, and went to a private hospital.  This accounted for some of her unusual behaviors.  Although she was always eating well, she was slim.  My 3rd maid used to carry her, towards the end when she was very weak.

No country for old men. The title of a popular Hollywood film suits India well. The country with the second-largest aged population in the world has been ranked amongst the poorest of nations to grow old in a global survey.

Global Age Watch Index (GAWI), developed with the UN fund for population and development on International Day of Older Persons, ranks India a poor 73 out of the 91 countries sampled.

India's ranking is woefully low compared to neighbour Sri Lanka that has been ranked 36 while Nepal (77), Pakistan (89) and Afghanistan (91) score even worse.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/India-ranks-73rd-in-elderly-care-Survey/articleshow/23374230.cms

One who always serves and respects elderly is blessed with four things : Long Life, Wisdom, Fame and Power”

                  Manusmriti Chapter 2:121

Dear all, I have been very busy trying to reduce the length of a paper not so successfully.  Apologies to all.  I found one interesting article on how aging parents are caring for a brain damaged child.  My own colleague in my previous school (Mrs. Tong) also has a girl who suffered a brain damage at infancy.  The girl is now 20 years old.  These are miracles, but see the love and care that parents are providing their children.  Those who have never experienced days and nights of sleeplessness and weariness will not be able to appreciate the sacrifices of care givers.

"This autoethnography glows from the richness of information which encapsulates the challenges confronting us the aging parent caregivers, the gradual incremental mind mending achievement of our son, and the interactive verbalizations and thoughts, of the caregivers, care-receiver, and other persons. The overwhelming mental and

physical pain and struggle of the survivor and the aging caregivers and their sense of celebratory-satisfaction with rehabilitation progress are highlighted. Interpretation and valuation of positive and negative responses of other persons provide a critical matrix to this autoethnography. We intend to inform other caregivers and relevant healthcare professionals through this autoethnography."

Dear @Miranda, what a story told to Jay Sokolovsky while studying residential homes for the elderly in Croatia and Serbia from 1983 to 1985!

"Now here is a story to show you how things have changed and what the young think of the old these days. After they married, 35-year-old Slobodan and his wife moved into the small house of his parents near the centre of Belgrad, the capital city of Yugoslavia. When the younger couple started having children they began taking over more of the limited space in the dwelling. By the time Slobodanís wife had their third child, his mother was dead and his 74-year-old father, Zvonko, was becoming frail. Slobodan requested that his father give up his larger bedroom to him and his wife. As his children grew, Slobodan haphazardly built a tiny room onto the house and "encouraged" the father to move into this new space, which he did. Eventually, although he was still able to take care of himself, Zvonko was asked by the son to move into a large, new residential complex for pensioners on the outskirts of the city. Two years passed and the father died. A month later, Slobodan receives a call from the director of the residence for the elderly, asking when he and his family are moving out of the house. Puzzled, Slobodan inquired why the director should ask such a crazy question. He was then informed that Zvonko had been so appreciative of how he was treated at the residence that he had deeded his house to the facility for its use..."

Wonderful @Ljubomir.  A lot of info from the attachment.  Thanks so much.  We now have a global problem on our hands.  (I see your story above, and I remember that John was supposed to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents. 'Otherwise God will strike the land with a curse'.  I pray and work...)

"Leo Simmons, in his classic examination of the role of the aged in 71 non-industrial societies, observed that throughout human history the family has been the safest haven for the aged. Its ties have been the most intimate and long-lasting, and on them the aged have relied for greatest security (Simmons, 1945, p. 176). If the survey data collected over the past two decades is any judge, Simmons simplistic axiom about the aged and family living still holds in much of the third world, even in urban areas where a majority of older adults still reside with younger relatives and must rely exclusively on familial resources for survival (Hashimoto, 1991). In the Western Pacific survey, for example, it was found that in Fiji, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines, between 75 and 85 per cent of the elderly reside in extended family settings. Importantly, within each country, variables such as gender, age of elder or marital status had little impact on the likelihood of co-residence. As Albert and Cattell (1994, p. 99) suggest, there seems to be a strong cultural prescription at work in this region. Similar findings from surveys carried out in the mid-1990s show a continuing pattern of high co-residence in the Philippines, Singapore,Taiwan Province of China and Thailand (Ofstedal, Knodel and Chayovan, 1999)."

http://biblehub.com/parallel/malachi/4-6.htm

In Asian countries, specifically in India, elder people are respected and honoured.

Hi Subhash, Ljubomir and all, I am sure that Asian communities respect old folks.  But in many Asian countries, we do not have the needed facilities to provide very good quality care.  My friend's mum was diabetic, and had a stroke and couldn't walk for years.  The daughters took care of her, and employed an Indian neighbor to help out.  Just imagine what will happen if her children were not able to find employment locally.  It would be so very sad.  (This is a link to one of the Old Folks' Home in my town.  Students from my previous school used to help to clean the place and visit the old people.  It's we who are learning and beneftting from them.)

https://foursquare.com/v/seri-kembangan-old-folks-home/4c7623b0604a3704a8a48449

This paper is quite interesting and has some relation to this discussion.  Have a look at this paper.  Thanks.

Article Quality of Life for Patients in Medical–Surgical Wards

This is very interesting innovation by my neighboring country, SIngapore.

"Caregivers have a new app to monitor seniors who live alone

In a trial conducted by Singapore's Housing and Development Board, a dozen elderly Singaporean households said they supported a smart monitoring system for the elderly.

Called the Smart Elderly Monitoring and Alert System, the trial program installed motion sensors in seniors' homes to initially study their living patterns, like how much time they normally spend in a certain area of their residence. By picking up on patterns, the system's algorithm is able to detect aberrations, such as when a person might be in bed or in the bathroom for an abnormally long period of time.

If the system picks up on an anomaly, it sends a text message to the senior's caregiver.

With such amazing medical advancements already in the works, it's an exciting time for medical and technological advancements Singapore; in the coming weeks, months and years, we can only imagine what impactful and innovative technologies will emerge from the region, which is quickly becoming a global player in healthcare innovation."

http://www.yoursingapore.com/mice/en/bulletin-board/5-amazing-healthcare-innovations/overview.html?cmp=btm%3Amy%3Agn%3Aoutbrain%3Adis%3Abrd%3Acluster-healthcare

Miranda,

This concept has been around for quite a few years in Australia under a company called Vitacall. They have a sensor box that is also linked to a personal alarm system. The sensor will scan the rooms at certain times i.e when the patient is due to wake, eat etc and if the person is still in the bed or on the floor, this will be picked up and the call centre can then respond by voice through the sensor box "mrs jones, are you awake, mrs jones are you ok?"

If the person does not respond, then they either will contact the direct family or the ambulance service.

Its a great concept for those living on their own