CARE OF OLD PEOPLE

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27709, 13 July 1955, Page 14

CARE OF OLD PEOPLE

WORK OF VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS NATIONAL CONFERENCE REVIEWED “I think this council should recognise that a great deal has been achieved for the aged in the past by those who have accepted the moral responsibility of the work.” said the Rev. W. E. Falkingham at a special meeting of the Christchurch Aged People’s Welfare Council, last evening. Mr Falkingham, who represented the council at the recent national conference on care of the aged, was replying to Dr. H. R. Donald, who said the conference had made it clear that there was no legal responsibility on any organisation for the care of the aged, except for the sick who were the responsibility of the hospital boards. Dr. Donald was giving a report on a conference committee which discussed the function and responsibility of organisations concerned with the welfare of the aged. When voluntary organisations undertook this work they were able to tackle the job with people who had a vocation for it, Mr Falkingham said. Old people would not receive sympathetic and kind treatment from persons caring for them who were onlyinterested in “the pay packet at the end of the week." But if old folk were looked after by those with “Divine constraint.” they would receive the treatment they needed. “It seems to me that the best results can be attained in this work by all voluntary organisations putting ’their shoulders to the wheel and doing their utmost.” he said. “One speaker at the conference said that this problem of the aged could be licked in five years. If the Government implements recommendations made at the conference. I think this will be so,” said Mr Falkingham. Dr. Donald, who represented the Christchurch Aged Peoples Welfare Council and the British Medical Association at the conference, told the meeting that the committee which dealt with the function and responsibility of organisations concerned with the welfare of the , aged had been averse to the establishment of any controlling authority in the care of the aged. This opinion was strong among members of the Auckland Aged People’s Welfare Council. “They did not want any authority which, they felt, might shove them around.” he said.

The Christchurch council had submitted a remit which read: “It is in the best interests of the aged that all matters relating to their welfare should now be placed in the hands of a separate authority with a view to the development of a national geriatric service.” Last evening’s special meeting of the council was called to give members, who had represented organisations at the conference, an opportunity of giving reports on the findings of committees. Mrs H. Wales, who represented the Red Cross Society, reviewed the gen- ® r §a n ’ sa tion of the conference. A report on the findings of the committee which discussed the needs of “C aged in the way of employment, adult education and recreation, was given by Dr. T. Morton, who represented the New Zealand Medical superintendents’ Association. Miss M. Corkill, delegate of the Nurse Maude District Nursing Association, spoke on the work of a commitiee which discussed the medical and nursing needs of the aged. One of the four representatives ol hospital boards in New Zealand, Mr V. C. Lawn, said he felt that one of the most important points raised at the conference was the need to keep eld £ rly people out of hospital. ..The work of the committee which discussed accommodation for old people and financial assistance for the aged_as individuals was reviewed by Mr G. Morgan, who represented the Anglican churches at the conference