How Elder Care is Changing in the Arab World
By: Holly Johnson/Arab America Contributing Writer
Age is just a number; at least, that’s what a specific counter-culture of modern society has attempted to instill in us, through rebellious deviance from mainstream media and its increasingly obsessive behaviors.
While you are, indeed, as young as you feel, aging is a biological matter that happens to every living organism (celebrities included). While the United States, and comparable western cultures, have long devoted energy towards third-party care for senior citizens, the Arab world has increasingly relied on age-old customs which see elders remaining with their families.
Traditionally viewed as a source of deep admiration and inspiration in Arab cultures, senior members typically reside with their family in Arab cultures, with many scoffing at off-property residential care as a means for skirting one’s responsibility.
While seniors in the Arab world receive love, attention, and respect from younger members of their family, this devotion has the potential of becoming detrimental; not only to their health and general well-being, but those of their caregivers as well.
As the number of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease rapidly climbs worldwide, Middle Eastern and North African countries are disproportionately considered among the fastest-growing regions in the world in terms of the horrific disease. Primarily affecting those 65 years of age and older, Alzheimer’s ravages one’s brain, causing cells to degenerate and die; beginning with memory loss, confusion, hallucinations, and eventually ending in death.
While there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, symptoms can be better managed through the use of medications and therapies, delivered ideally in a residential atmosphere. Due to the increasingly high percentages of the elderly being diagnosed with this, coupled with modern-day worries of achieving financial stability, many Arab families are turning to alternatives. These even include utilizing senior care homes, a once-unthinkable solution to a long apparent need.
In Jordan, the first senior care home opened in 1961, providing shelter to women of the region in need of safe-keeping. The country now boasts over ten senior care homes, including a community in Amman that provides specific respite for those battling Alzheimer’s disease; there a higher concentration of intensive disease-specific training and resources can be found.
In Damascus, a major cultural center of the Levant and Arab world, nursing homes were first considered a harsh reality with lasting ravaging effects attributed to war. As shifts in the population continue, however, once reviled properties of exile have become sanctuaries promoting peace and positive welfare. This is thanks in part to medical advancements contributing to longer life expectancies in both men and women (although it should be noted that socioeconomic and environmental factors have an impact).
In Arab culture, the eldest son is traditionally expected to care for his aging parents’ needs. In modern-day society, however, men are expected to provide financially, emotionally, and physically for their wives and children, leading to increasing levels of frustration and risk of health concerns for untrained caregivers.
While elderly members are cherished by their families, those who remain at home run the risk of suffering negative physical, emotional, and psychological impacts on their health. Being cared for by family members sounds/is nice, but many are unfamiliar with various medical needs and cannot provide adequate stimulation.
In the United States, with baby boomers aging, senior care homes are distinguished by various levels, dependent on the quantity of care residents require (a trend which is occurring in Arab countries as well). With over 119 senior care homes in the nation’s capital alone, the senior industry continues to rise, with no end to its burning intensity in sight.
Some communities showcase pastel hues amidst decor more consistent with luxury hotels and extravagant casinos than a medical facility, but this is not the normal. These residential havens begin with apartment-style living for those 55 and over, and end with state-of-the-art, round-the-clock nursing care (with assisted living serving as the transition between).
It is not uncommon for these homes to boast cocktail hours, entertainment soirees, day trips, and individualized care plans, pool parties and thematic discos.
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