Meeting the needs of the elderly.

SENIOR CITIZENS: More should be done to create greater awareness on the needs of the rising population of the elderly, writes Olivia Miwil

HOLDING a broom handle which doubled up  as a walking stick, Pindatun Mantero was all smiles as he chatted with geriatrician, Dr Richard Ng.

The 64-year-old was at Queen Elizabeth I Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, for his regular follow-up after suffering a stroke last year and relies on Dr Ng, one of only 19 geriatricians in the country, to recuperate.

Following the stroke, Pindatun was warded at the hospital.

He is now well on the road to recovery although the stroke has left him with poor eyesight, limited mobility and speech difficulty.

After his discharge from the hospital, Dr Ng even made a house call to check on Pindatun at his home in Sembulan in Kota Kinabalu.

"I am just a satay seller but this doctor and his team of nurses visited me to make sure I am fine," he said, adding that Dr Ng advised him on his diet and enquired about his bowel movements.

"He even used his bare hands to check my enlarged left foot," Pindatun said, obviously in awe of the good doctor.

Another regular at the geriatric unit, Peter Lantai, 69, said things would have been different for him had he not been sent to the special ward after he had a mild stroke last year.

The geriatric ward specialises in looking after elderly people and was established in March last year. Peter, just like Pindatun, was one of the first few patients to benefit from it.

"When I was admitted to the ward after the attack, my wife was not around. They were the ones who attended to my needs, from feeding me to washing me.

"Elderly people like me can be quite difficult but the nurses are specially trained to deal with us," said the former rubber trader who was warded for nine days.

"Personally, I think the government should consider extending this service to other areas to better serve the elderly," he said when met at the ward where he still goes for his check-up.

Dr Ng heads the unit at the hospital where he has put together a team of nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists to provide holistic care for the patients.

A multi-disciplinary team was necessary as each of them have different roles in assisting ageing patients to be in the best possible shape.

Dr Ng added that the elderly need different prescriptions compared to younger patients.

"The elderly would have certain degenerative functions, such as arthritis, declining vision and memory, incontinence, lung infection, hypertension, diabetes and heart problems, among others."

Caring for the elderly is second nature to Dr Ng as he was a volunteer at palliative care centres since he was a teenager.

"It is a bonus for me as it helped in my communication skills with the elderly and I am able to understand underlying problems," he said, adding that handling elderly patients was no different from handling other patients.

"It is just a perception that senior citizens are difficult to handle."

Dr Ng said the geriatric unit also trained caregivers on proper ways to feed elderly patients, to watch out for risks and also ways for them to do exercises, especially those who are bedridden.

"They even help in positioning the furniture in homes to accommodate the needs of the elderly and reduce the risk of them getting injured."

The general geriatric clinic at the hospital opens on Mondays and Wednesdays, the Memory clinic opens on Tuesdays while the Falls and Balance clinic is open on Thursdays.

The team also visits the district hospitals in Kuala Penyu and Beaufort on a monthly basis to treat the senior citizens.

According to the World Health Organisation, the number of people aged above 65 stands at eight per cent of the world population now and is expected to double by 2030.

In Malaysia, the speciality is still new and many are not even able to pronounce the word "geriatric" correctly.

"That would be a good start as we need to raise greater awareness about this field," Dr Ng added.