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Tuesday, 01 October 2019 11:16

Call in Las Tunas to Prepare for Challenges of Population Aging (+Tweets)

Written by Misleydis González Ávila
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Call in Las Tunas to Prepare for Challenges of Population Aging (+Tweets)

With regard to the celebration this October 1st of the International Day of Older Persons, the psychologist and Master in Satisfactory Longevity, Xiomara Mercantete Rodríguez, calls the population to prepare for the challenges of accelerated population aging.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- The psychologist stated that institutions, specialists and relatives of older persons should have adequate gerontological knowledge, free of paternalism, discrimination, and gerophobia. He affirms that the greatest challenge is to ensure that each of the elderly, with their illnesses and characteristics, can live with quality.

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According to statistics, more than 100,000 people exceed six decades of life here; this is why they work with a multidisciplinary approach to guarantee assistance to this population group. The province exhibits one of the highest life expectancies at birth: 79.5 years; women reach 81 years on average, and men exceed 78, indicators comparable to those of developed nations.

However, many of Las Tunas inhabitants do not arrive prepared for this complex process and become victims of cultural stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination on the grounds of age. According to the World Health Organization, the phenomenon - qualified as ageism - arises from negative attitudes towards the elderly and damages their physical and mental well-being.

According to the experts on the subject, multigenerational contradictions emerge within the home and the elderly generally carry the disadvantage. The youngest does not find the appropriate response to the cognitive problems of grandparents.

With good reason, Mercantete Rodríguez points out that efforts must be directed in favor of the well-being of the elderly; so that their lives gain meaning by feeling useful in the performance of daily activities.

Varied sources foresee that by 2050 more people will retire than children start at school each year, so the workforce will be in crisis just like the economic future. Retirement is an important change in life, which also needs preparation.

In old age, people can be happy and enjoy the privilege of treasuring experiences. However, the joy of those who comb gray hair largely depends on the love of family and the understanding of the whole society.

Read 484 times Last modified on Tuesday, 01 October 2019 14:14
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