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Letters  

Treat the elderly better

Re: Anne Hunter’s letter Plight of elderly in B.C. (Castanet, Jan 13)

My heart goes out to letter writer Anne Hunter, as she describes the situation of her brother, who currently lives in a facility with no enrichment program for residents.

She wrote: "I would advise all residents of our province who are approaching old age, or have loved ones in the elderly age group, to read the recent Senior's Advocate report, which was released to the public in December 2024."

All the Seniors Advocate's annual reports, from 2014/15 to 2023/24, and news releases can be found here.

The B.C. government needs to do a better job helping seniors live safely at home for as long as possible—ideally, for their entire lives. But if the person declines to the point where their physical and/or mental health renders them unsafe to remain in their home, those facilities and quality programs need to be there.

"I have written to the premier, the health minister, (Opposition leader) John Rustad and Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau more than once. I have not received a response from any of them,” Hunter wrote. "I think my letters were heart-wrenching, but there it is—no response. Elderly residents of our province are invisible."

Wow! No one has responded.

While ancient traditional cultures around the world placed elders at the top of the social hierarchy, the "invisibility" of the elderly is the sad reality in modern western societies. It's also known by another name—“ageism”—defined as prejudice or discrimination against people based on their age. Examples include, institutional ageism, interpersonal ageism, stereotypes and treating people as helpless.

For more information, read the 2021 CBC article: Fear ageism, not aging: How an ageist society is failing its elders.

David Buckna, Kelowna



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