Care of the aged

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33253, 16 June 1973, Page 10

Care of the aged

The Aged. By Dr

Klaus Bergmann.

Wolfe. New Zealand Agents Whitcombe and Tombs. 158 pp.

The breakdown of physical and mental powers through the progressive frailities of advancing age is the subject of a book which should be a “vade mecum” to those whose duty it is to deal with such a situation. Dr Bergmann is a psychiatrist who is writing for the guidance of close relatives — usually those of a younger generation — on the handling of an aged father or mother for whom they feel a proper sense of responsibility. This often takes the form of accepting the aged parent into the family home, and the author dissents from the frequently expressed view of a censorious world that young people nowadays tend to throw off this burden by placing the elderly relative in a ge<iatric hospital.

The author examines the whole gamut of difficulties which the process of ageing can entail for both the generations concerned, and does rot gloss over the tax imposed upon a son or daughter by the mental quirks, deteriorating memory and advancing physical helplessness of the old person concerned. At the same time he sympathetically examines the predicament of a man or woman who for many years, perhaps directed the Jives of others in a professional, business or domestic capacity, as they find themselves diminished not only in responsibility, but in basic human dignity. And he makes an appeal to the selfappointed guardians of such old people to help them in the difficult task of keeping abreast with the contemporary world. Dr Bergmann practises in Britain where the Health Service is making real efforts to increase the number and scope of those institutions whose function is the part or whole care of geriatric cases. Two of these deserve special mention. First, the “Day Hospital,” which has been set up within the National Health Service. This provides for an ambulance to fetch the elderly person on stated days every week at some hour in the morning and return him to his home in the late afternoon. This not only enables the householder to enjoy a good deal of free time but reassures the elderly relative that he is still living in his own familiar habitat. The second good feature of geriatric care is the hospital which takes in the aged patient on a regular basis of six weeks in and six weeks out. The obvious advantages of this scheme do not need stressing. It, in fact, assures the old person of permanent refuge in two different, but almost equally familiar environments—an important factor in preserving his or her peace of mind. This book should find a permanent place on the shelves of any family faced with the responsibility of caring for old people — a growing problem, and one not easy of solution.