Increase in elderly experiencing ‘age apartheid’

A GROWING number of elderly people are experiencing urban isolation and a form of age apartheid, social campaigners have warned.

For the first time, the St Vincent de Paul has formed a team of volunteers to tackle loneliness being experienced by older people in their own homes.

The initiative began in Cork two months ago, when the SVP set up a dedicated team for the sole purpose of calling to vulnerable older people.

The initiative is in direct response to what the SVP southern president Brendan Dempsey called a “serious problem” of fear and loneliness.

“For the first time, we have set up a group of volunteers for the sole purpose of visiting old people in their homes. We have another group who are phoning people free of charge, at a particular time of day or in the evening to see that they are alright,” he said.

“Most definitely have a problem with fear and loneliness and generally not being able to cope with life. Some have family who may be living some distance away and don’t have the transport to be visiting them regularly, and people who literally have no living relative, though that is rare enough. Usually they are people whose children have gone to live in other countries.”

Mr Dempsey raised concerns that some people who are approaching the SVP need more support than volunteers can provide — particularly young people. This was a worry for the organisation, he said.

He said he had noticed that there are lot more people begging on the streets. “I have also noticed from walking around town, I have seen quite a few women, middle aged and young women crying, and men rummaging through bins.”

Meanwhile, Friends of the Elderly’s Dermot Kirwan said the problem with older people is more than isolation, and amounts to “age apartheid”.

“Our elderly are living in a parallel universe, where they coexist but do not engage with young people. As a nation we decided that the state can provide for our elderly and now we are paying the price.”