ROTARY CLUB LAUNCHES £50,000 AGED APPEAL

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27592, 24 February 1955, Page 15

ROTARY CLUB LAUNCHES £50,000 AGED APPEAL

Notary Club of Christchurch officially launched its Golden Jubilee year project to raise £50,000 to build homes for the aged and frail in Christ£2yrc^L, the showing of the film . e _^ rea t Adventure” in the Mayrair Theatre yesterday, and a luncheon addressed by the chairman of the Aged Peoples Welfare Council (Dr. H. R. Donald).

The film, being shown all over the 22- ?L to -Rotarians celebrating their fiftieth anniversary, depicted the acclvl i ? c tobs in various countries. Speaking after its showing, the vicepresident of the club and chairman of the golden jubilee committee (Mr F. C. Penfold) said more than 8000 clubs w«*e launching jubilee projects. The Christchurch club had accepted the challenge to raise £50,000 to build homes for the aged and frail. Rotary had investigated all aspects of the plans of the Aged Welfare Council, and was satisfied that the need for their implementation was urgent, and in many cases desperate. To ensure the success of the appeal the cooperation and help of all sections of the community were necessary. The contributions from individual rotarians had reached a total of £4OOO, from a club of about 125 members, said Mr Penfold.

Supporting the appeal the Mayor (Mr R. M. Macfarlane, M.P.) said that the £50,000 would be increased to £lOO,OOO by a Government subsidy. But it would not be successful unless the Rotary Club gained the support of other sections of the community, including the trade union movement. Desperate Need Addressing the luncheon, Dr. Donald outlined the desperate need for assistance, and the nature in which it could best be given. He said the council had adopted a plan, which translated into finance required a very large sum, unable to be raised by charity alone. It was up to the community to point the way which sooner or later would mean an official community effort. “Where could the council turn? It

knew the problems and had the authority. The answer was to the Rotary Club, which represented the community. And not for a minute did I doubt that its members would accept the challenge,” said Dr. Donald.

In Christchurch the pensioner population had risen steeply—from 6000 in 1914 to 24,000 this year. A conservative estimate was for 35,000 in 20 years, and nearly six times as many in just on 60 years. Dr. Donald said. In addition there was a corresponding decrease in the number of wage earners. In 1914 there were 14 head of population to support each pensioner, but in 1975 there might be only four. “The difficulties in which our old folk find themselves are not only because the weight of numbers has swamped the existing arrangements for their welfare, but also that mere money can now no longer afford comSlete protection for advancing years,” e said. Reviewing existing facilities for their welfare, Dr. Donald said that taking the population of greater Christchurch at 180,000 the city required at least 300 beds for its aged and infirm. At present there were 150, of which 45 were at the Jubilee Home, 50 at Burwood and 50 as far afield as Ashburton. It was obvious that these were not strategically placed and “it is not surprising that the medical wards of our Public Hospital continue to be chocked with old folk. Of these, 15 to 20 per cent could be discharged if they had anywhere to go. It is a bad policy to spend the equivalent of £2O a week in looking after an old person when one-third of that would do.

Nursing Shortage “Nor is this problem certain of solution by putting up additional accommodation in outlying hospitals, for there you cannot get nursing staff to look after them. Therefore, facilities at present for the care of the aged and infirm are inadequate, uneconomic and inconvenient and unless some way is found of overcoming the bottleneck of nurses, they are unlikely to show improvement,** said Dr. Donald. Given assistance, the aged and frail could retain that degree of independence essential to their mental and physical welfare, Dr. Donald said. In some cases the help was given by relatives, but Others had outlived their children and on their account a magnificent job was done by welfare workers from voluntary organisations.

“But the state of. accommodation tor the frail in this town is far from satisfactory. In 1914, 40 in 1000 could be accommodated, but now just half of that number.' If we are to restore the 1914 standard within the next 20 years, we shall have to provide a further 700 units of accommodation for the frail, which is approximately 35 new units every year. It is small wonder that the waiting list for the various homes for the aged is so ISnff as to be meaningless; it is small wonder that there are so many sub-standard units of accommodation in the town which cannot be closed by the authorities for lack of alternatives,” he said. Large Group not Seen Dr. Donald said' there was also a large group of old persons shut off from observation, whose closing years were marked by paralysing loneliness with nothing to look forward to but inevitable frailty with its attendant insecurity. Their difficulty was aggravated by sensitiveness, often preferring to put up with greater hardship rather than to seek assistance. The survey of the Christchurch pensioner population was a most valuable one because it put into figures what could only be guessed at, he said. “It is a statistical one and statistics require a little understanding—it is commonly said that they can be made to prove anything, even the truth. Some people may think that because a person draws an old age pension he is automatically somewhat decrepit. In fact only between 10 and 15 per cent, require assistance. As the survey emphasises, for an old person to apply for admission to a home would represent the admission of a crisis situation. “The important thing is not how many people don’t want to go info a home but how many, people would gladly enter one and -how many have an urgent. need, of one. ■ The survey says there is an additional need for 300 units for the aged and frail—this figure being minimal because only in extreme cases did the surveyors make any definite recommendations; it was based on urban Christchurch, not greater; it was based on those above 65 and not 60; and it is already two years out of date. “In urban Christchurch there are about 1000 old folk who are wholly dependent upon others; there are 2000 or 3000 others who are partly dependent; and more than 2500 who live alone, of whom 1000 confess to loneliness. The picture I wish to draw is of a community inadequately equipped and prepared for the increase in its aged persons in the next 20 years. And this is understandable because in the past there has been no single responsible authority. As a result of Government action the Aged People’s Welfare Council was formed in Christchurch. United Community “It was clear from the beginning that the problems to be faced were so large that they could only be tackled by a united community but under the control of a single authority. It was also clear that any plan of campaign must be adequate not only for the needs of the present'but for the ever increasing requirements for the future. Certain principles must be observed. First, that old folk should be encouraged to remain young in mind and body. Second, that old folk should be assisted to remain in their homes t°r ? s „ 101 l g as Possible. Third, that old folk should not be moved out of the district to which they belong. Fourth, that old folk have no place in hospitals except to receive the specialised attention that only hospitals can give.” Dr. Donald said that in a city already so large the only possible solution was for regionalisation—to make each district self-sufficient and responsible for every aspect of its ageing population. In that was born * x council’s long-term project of establishing its own community centres for the aged in every district of our city—each centre serving a population of between 20,000 and 30,000. They would provide district club rooms where old folk would find friendship, occupation, and hot meals. They would offer supervised residential accommodation for those who could no longer manage on their own. They would accommodate between 30 and 50 inmates.