October 1st is a very remarkable day for us at Dewdrop Foundation (DDF) and Centre for Gender Economics Africa (CGE Africa). Today is the 60th anniversary of our country Nigeria, a celebration of our independence as a country. Interestingly, Nigeria has not only turned a year older, it has joined the Seenagers – persons aged 60 and above. Happy birthday Nigeria!

Today we also celebrate the International Day of Older Persons with our project beneficiaries, i.e. the elderly population, as well as the World Decade for Healthy Ageing in Nigeria (2020-2030).

Globally, the number of people aged 60 years and above, is increasing and is estimated to accelerate in the coming decades, especially in developing countries. Living longer is a remarkable achievement; older persons are living human treasures and valuable resources who sustain intergenerational ties. As a result, it is very important for them to be included in all development plans. Poor planning for the aged impacts all facets of the society such as labour and financial markets, education, housing, health and social care, social protection, transport, information, communication, family structures and intergenerational ties.

In recognition of the importance of older persons to any community, Dewdrop Foundation and CGE Africa, are currently implementing an 18-months project funded by Oxfam/Voice, which focuses on curtailing elder abuse in 11 communities in Enugu State. Enugu State was selected as a pilot because of the rate of elder abuse in the State, as well as the lack of legislation to protect the elderly and improve their welfare. The total selected project communities are eleven (11), namely, Umuode, Akpuoga-Nike, AmechiIdodo, Isigwe Ugbawka, Ndiagu-Owo, Ogonogoeji Ndiuno Akpugo, Ogbeke/Ukuruta Agbani, Ojiagu Agbani, Ishienu Nkerefi, Akwuke and Akwuke-Uwani.

The project also creates platforms (safe spaces) for older persons (Seenagers) to speak up about issues of concern to them. Findings from our baseline survey established that older persons experienced physical, emotional, neglect, sexual and financial abuse. Nearly 3 in 10 older persons across ten communities reported experiencing some form of abuse and/or neglect. Emotional abuse was the most common type of abuse observed, followed by neglect, then financial abuse, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. Of those who were physically abused, many of them had broken bones.

To date, the lives of over 1000 elderly persons in Enugu State have been touched by the project. 11 safe spaces have been established for them in their communities, 20 young people from the community (community mobilizers) have been selected and receive monthly training that enables them to actively advocate for and sensitize others about elder abuse and care of elderly persons (including common mental illnesses associated with ageing (such as dementia), 150 caregivers in rural communities have been trained to care for and uphold the dignity of older persons (40 of them received the International City and Guilds Diploma Certificate in Health and Social Care), a policy brief for criminalizing elder abuse has been developed as an advocacy tool in the State. In partnership with Pieta Caring Mission for the Poor, several Covid-19 awareness and prevention programmes were carried out for over 230 households from 14 communities, intergenerational social activities were also carried out through a walkathon and an art competition. Consultations are currently ongoing to establish a community of practice comprising local and regional organizations and individuals promoting the welfare and wellbeing of older persons.

More than ever before, the health and welfare of older persons is on the front burner today. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the lives of the aged around the world as they are the most susceptible to the virus. Additionally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), most older people live in developing countries. In 2020, for the first time in history, people aged 60 years or over will outnumber children under 5 years. By the end of the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020–2030), the number of people aged 60 years and older will be 34% higher, increasing from 1 billion in 2019 to 1.4 billion. This calls for concern, judging by the development plans of many developing countries.

The Decade for Healthy Ageing provides a new opportunity to address the gender power relations and norms that disproportionately influence the health and well-being of older women and men and the intersectional links between gender and age. Planning for healthy ageing MUST therefore be inclusive, taking in the needs of men and women alike.

Dewdrop Foundation and CGE Africa call for the implementation of sensitization campaigns and caregiver trainings on dementia – as one of the causes of elder abuse – by State healthcare systems. We also call for the establishment of a platform for key players who will champion the cause of the ageing population (State Committee on Elder Care) and sustain the guidelines for providing care, recognition and respect for older persons in Enugu State as well as other States in Nigeria.



By Nneka A. Egbuna
Assistant Programme Coordinator, Dewdrop Foundation

Currently 700,000 people in the UK have dementia and this figure is expected to double over the next few decades. The Awards in Awareness of Dementia/Certificates in Dementia Care will help to improve health and care services supporting individuals diagnosed with dementia.
Qualifications in awareness of dementia and dementia care are aimed at occupational areas across all service user groups and ages.
This also includes healthcare/care assistants, support/key workers, family support workers and team leaders/first line supervisors.

Here in Nigeria, Dr Temitope Farombi, a consultant geriatric neurologist at the Chief Tony Anenih Geriatric Centre at UCH Ibadan, explains that relatives often assume that the early signs of dementia – confusion, irritability, difficulty performing familiar tasks and memory loss – are just normal signs of ageing.

Dr Farombi says, “ageing is a physiological process, while dementia is a pathology of the brain. It presents in the form of memory loss and behavioural abnormalities”.
“Early diagnosis helps stall other associated risk factors that could accelerate the progression of dementia,” Farombi explains, adding that “medication can help improve cognition”.

https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20190310-nigerias-elderly-suffering-dementia-not-witchcraft-says-activist

Many stories abound about the elderly who are mistaken for witches because they are acting “possessed”.

The Dewdrop Institute’s dementia qualifications are aimed at a diverse range of job roles and occupational areas across all service user groups and ages, working in government, private and voluntary agencies. This would be suitable for anyone aged 16 or older, who have an interest in operating in a caring role for older people.

These roles include
Care assistants/support workers/key workers in residential settings
Healthcare assistants/support workers in community and primary care environments or acute health environments
Care assistants/support workers/key workers in domiciliary services
Care assistants/support workers/key workers in day services
Support workers in supported living projects
Community-based care assistants/support workers/key workers, including those working in specialist areas eg dementia, learning disabilities
Family support workers
Personal assistants employed directly by the individual they support or their families
Senior workers in above services
First line supervisors
Team leaders working
Emerging new types of workers and multidisciplinary health roles crossing traditional service barriers and delivery models Informal and family carers.

Dewdrop Institute is the only City and Guilds accredited training center for Health and Social Care in Nigeria.
These Health and Social Care Diploma qualifications are designed to equip learners with the skills and knowledge needed to care for others in a broad range of health or social care settings.
A Diploma in Health and Social Care is flexible to suit all fields of health and social care. Learners can select a pathway that suits their role – for example, working with people with a learning disability, people with dementia or children and young people.

This is the main qualification required by the Quality Care Commission in England and the Care Councils in Wales and Northern Ireland. City & Guilds International of London, UK is the global leader in skills development & apprenticeship schemes with 2 million learners working on diverse qualifications every year since 1878. Its Diploma qualifications for the workforce are recognized globally in over 80 countries. C&G training solves local skills shortages and transforms the lives of people by enabling them develop their potential and the skills they need to get their first job and progress on to higher levels; start and manage their businesses successfully; and become globally mobile.
The Dewdrop Institute is an accredited City & Guilds vocational Institute, and an affiliate of edX, with training Centres in Abuja and Enugu, Nigeria. We provide affordable and flexible learning opportunities for people at all levels to acquire top-notch skills and corporate knowledge from our team of experts, partners and industry specialists in a serene learning environment or through our DewCare online platform. (Insert Link)

#DDIcaregivers
#Eldercare
#Dewdropgoup
#Healthcare
#PreventingCovid19

Intro by DDF: Charles Nwodo  qualified for the 2nd prize in the senior category. Below is his winning entry of the Voice sponsored Art Competition, he was selected for impressing the judges with his interest in the subject matter of #StopElderAbuse. He met the criteria of interviewing a Seenager and succinctly capturing the ‘nuggets of wisdom’ that he learnt during the process.  His accompanying artwork also serve as an indication of his willingness to follow competition rules as well as his artistic talent. 

Please read and share to promote the message #StopElderAbuse

 

ESSAY ON NUGGETS OF WISDOM by Charles  Nwodo, 19 Years

INTRODUCTION

“Turning and turning in the widening gear the falcon can no longer hear the falconer, the center can no longer hold, mere  anarchy is loosed upon the world,  things fall apart -W. B Yeast. 

From the quote above, it is obvious that things have fallen apart in the very sense that the prestige of the society and life in general is no longer respected and revered. By this we mean that respect and value for elders which lead to all sorts of different inhumanity to man in the name of abuse especially towards the elders are taken for granted. Without noticing or realizing the fact that there are lots of nuggets of wisdom that can be achieved from these seenagers. 

“What an elder sees sitting down, even when a child climbs an iroko tree cannot see it(an Igbo proverb to which promotes the nuggets of wisdom of the Elders). 

So in this write up, I will enumerate and explain equally some of the Nuggets of Wisdom I adopted as a teenager from this my revered seenager, Late Madam Theresa Akubilo Nwodo -Onovo, who was seventy eight(78) years and happens to be my grand mother.  But before I commence it’s good to know what Nuggets of Wisdom is all about and who are actually “seenagers”. 

Nuggets Of Wisdom; Nuggets of Wisdom (from adopted seenager) are words of advice culled or gotten from good judgment of life’s stories of this elderly person. 

Seenager; Seenager can be seen as an elderly person that is from 60 years and above. In other words can be called senior teenager. 

Some Nuggets Of Wisdom From My Seenager Includes 

Prayerfulness; She made me to understand the need for prayers. As Christians we believe that prayers is the means by which we communicate with our God. She expressed our total dependency in God together with our readiness to work physically. She equally lived a life as a devout Christian. 

Hardworking; I was able to learn from her how to be hardworking, knowing that there is no food for a Lazy man. She was hardworking, still producing palm oil even at her very old age till the point of her ill -health. 

Sustainability; She worked to sustain herself even when she was alone in the village, the little she had was enough for her. And to me, it was a good thing, and I  was able to learn the spirit of contentment. 

Love; Love is the key to perseverance. She was so loving and caring. I learnt from her to always love and always pray for my enemies. She always said that “true happiness does not consist in just receiving love. Rather it is a balance of the receiving and the giving of love”. 

Forgiveness; She lived a life of forgiveness. It is one of the good things I learnt, to always forgive my offenders. This I noticed and praised her, that when she was about to give up, she called everybody available both Children and grand Children and apologized, if she had wronged any of us and equally pleads with us to forgive her if in any way she has wronged us, it was for me a good lesson. 

Humility; The bible made it clear that “whoever humbles himself shall be exalted and who exalts himself shall be humbled “. I learnt from her to always be humble because it is only when you are humble that good things will come to you,  but that does not mean you be a coward.  She lived a humble life through close devotion to our blessed Virgin Mary as a Catholic. Even in her ageing, she always joins other women in sweeping the market place at specified days,  and equally joins the legionaries in their christian task of the home to home visit and the care of the sick and aged in the community. With this, I learnt the virtue of selflessness. 

Obedience; She always  quote the biblical passage to us from the book of 1 Sam 15 vs 22.The bible teaches us that “Obedience is better than sacrifice “. So in view of that, as Christians and responsible individuals we have to be obedient to instructions from our superiors. 

Truthfulness /Sincerity ; A sincere person is a trustworthy person, she often advice and admonishes me to always say the truth at each time, “because he who says the truth, clears his conscience “. She always frowns at insincerity. I remembered the time she scolded my elder brother so furiously about lies and trying to play pranks with the notion that it does more  harm than good. 

Cheerfulness: She taught me to be cheerful and happy even in the midst of tribulations. That’s why in times of trials you see her always smiling even at difficult times of her sickness. 

Good Character and morality; Good character and morality is something every responsible human being should have, and she was a woman of honor and  good character which is shown in her title in the church as “Ezinne” that is “the good mother” in 2012.

However, there  are other nuggets of Wisdom I can remember which came as a result of my close interaction with her as her grand child. Some of them are on the following issues÷

I can remember my sister asking her in one of our discussions with her when we visited her, she asked, “Mama why are marriages  noticed this days to be failing and the cause?.” And she gave us a wonderful advice which is;

Family and Marriage; Marriage partners should be tolerant, kind and respectful towards each other. They should be sympathetic to each other, listen to the  each other’s problem and concerns and try to take an interest in their partner. She also said “genital contact” is not the most important aspect of marriage. It is only one aspect of what should be a deep, well developed caring relationship. 

On family; She said, the loving and lively family nest is the basin of future mental and moral health within society.

On War and Peace :
I asked  about the situation of Nigeria and our going to war again to regain our freedom, she sighed and told me, “my son instead of to advocate for a war, better we go into dialogue remembering with great deal of despair what they went through during the Nigerian-Biafran war of 1967 which killed an estimate of 3.5 million people including my brother and her little niece who died as a cause of disease and illness during the war.”

With all this, I discovered that abuse of an elder is not only a taboo to the present generation who through one way or another inflict pain to the elderly person but equally bring curse on themselves because “Ageing is a blessing”.
If we cannot secure this blessing now, how can we move on in this present and future generation?. This is because the book of Proverb 17 vs 6 tells us that “The Crown of the aged is their children’s children, the children’s glory in their parents”. Picasso said,  “we don’t get older, we get riper ” and we can see that the “Nuggets of Wisdom are not only important and beneficial to us the teenagers it is a gift from God to humanity.”

Conclusion 

Therefore, I will conclude by remembering the words of Samuel Tarloy Coleridge, who said “I have often thought what a Melancholy world this would be without Children ;and what an inhuman world without the aged”.  

GOD BLESS AND KEEP ALL OUR SEENAGERS!

 

                       

Dewdrop Foundation Launches 0700DEWCARE Hotline

The coronavirus is the worst public health crisis to have hit the world in a century and older persons are more susceptible to the virus than any other age group. Medical experts have maintained that older adults are at significant risk because of many ailments commonly associated with ageing

Though the most affected age group in Nigeria is between 31 to 40, about 70 per cent of fatalities were persons over 60 years of age, according to data from Nigeria’s infectious disease control outfit, NCDC.

The report also showed a very high rate of mortality among ages 41- 50 and 51-60.

Ages 61-70: Male-188 infected with three deaths; female – 52 infected with four deaths.

“Age 70 plus: Male – 74 infected with 12 deaths; female – 33 infected with five deaths. Highest rate of mortality – comparable to global data,” 

“Ages 41-50: Male – 570 infected with 15 deaths; female — 206 infected with four deaths.

“Ages 51-60: Male — 364 infected with 27 deaths; female — I48 infected with three deaths,” it said.

It is therefore important for elders to be properly taken care of while the virus is still around. This implies that all their family members and caregivers should take adequate precautions to ensure they do not expose their older ones to the virus.

Certain misunderstood ailments in older persons

WHO estimates that 15.7% of people 60 years and older are subjected to abuse. These prevalence rates are likely to be underestimated as many cases of elder abuse are not reported. In Nigeria, people in villages are largely unaware of the causes of age-induced ailments/disability caused by memory loss, especially Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease which makes people “act strange” and are often labelled witches (in the case of women).

Elder Abuse

According to the UN, “Elder abuse is a global social issue which affects the health and human rights of millions of older persons around the world. Around 4 to 6% of elderly people have experienced some form of maltreatment at home. Elder maltreatment can lead to serious physical injuries and long-term psychological consequences”.

Types of Elder Abuse

Elder abuse can be Physical, Psychological/emotional, Financial/material, Sexual abuse or Neglect and abandonment. In a 2019 survey conducted by Center for Gender Economics  (CGE Africa) on the rate of elder abuse in South East Nigeria, using Enugu State as a pilot, the findings were that elder abuse was mostly perpetrated by family members of close acquaintances of the elders. The 101 elders that were interviewed had experienced all the types of abuse and most of those who were sexually abused were raped!

According to the CGE report, “the prevalence rates of abuse establish that nearly 3 in 10 older persons across ten communities reported experiencing some form of abuse and/or neglect in the past twelve months. Emotional abuse was the most common type of abuse observed, followed by neglect, then financial abuse, sexual abuse and physical abuse many  were physically abused which lead to broken bones.

Signs of elder abuse: according to the survey by the CGE Africa, the following constitute warning signs;

Physical abuse warning signs: The presence of inexplicable signs of injuries on the body, bone injuries, irregular use of medication, wrist scars including damaged eye frames. Another sign to watch out for is when the caregiver is uncomfortable because you are observing the elder’s body.

Emotional abuse warning signs:
Most elders that participated in the study shared that once their caregivers start being mean or overly controlling, they tend to break the cycle by no longer asking them for help and thereby slipping into depression and self-neglect. This can lead to mental and physical health problems that leave elders malnourished, experiencing unusual weight loss, with bed sores, dehydration and unsanitary living condition. This ends up leading to serious illness and ultimately death.

Sexual abuse warning signs:
This is one of the worst kinds of abuse because it is very hard for sexually abused elders to share that traumatic experience. Some of our study participants that have experienced it told us how demeaning they felt when they eventually shared it with either their children or health professionals.

Elder neglect or self-neglect warning signs:
The Red Flags of Elder neglect are unusual weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration, untreated bodily problems; such as bed sores; dirty living conditions, being left filthy; unkempt clothing or covering for the weather; insecure living conditions (no running water; broken-down electrical connections; etc.) and worst of all desertion of the elder at a public place. Elders with dementia may be at even greater risk of neglect than elders without dementia.

Financial exploitation and abuse warning signs:

Some of the key warning signs are: Substantial withdrawals from the elder’s accounts; impulsive fluctuations in the elder’s financial condition; things or cash missing from the elder’s home; guarded changes in wills, land titles, and deeds; adding names and signature to the elder’s bank account mandate; financial movements the elder could not have carried out, such as an ATM withdrawal.

Dewdrop Foundation intervention

To mitigate elder abuse in communities and households, Dewdrop Foundation is creating safe spaces/platforms where the elders (or Seenagers) can speak up about issues of concern to them. It is our wish that these platforms will be replicated in other communities.

Together with its partner CGE Africa, a policy brief on criminalizing elder abuse in Enugu state was presented to the governor of the state including its legislature. by July 2020, over 800 elders in Enugu have been impacted by our project.

Dewdrop Institute, we are currently offering training for caregivers, notably the Specialist curriculum for obtaining a Personal Care Services certificate in order to provide professional care services for the elderly.

Nigeria has no law catering to the comprehensive welfare of the older persons. Currently, different bills on ageing are still pending at the National Assembly.

What you can do to help: Dewdrop Foundation established a hotline which can be called to report cases of abuse of all people including elders.

The number  is 0700DEWCARE or 07003392273