A Dilemma for Age Concern
Age Concern’s purpose is for older people / kaumātua to live a valued life in an inclusive society. “He pāpori e whai whakaarohia ana, e whakanuitia ana, e tautokona ana, e whai mana anahoki te hunga kaumātua.”
Some of our community services continued through the levels of COVID-19 lockdown. Our team working with older people who are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect did that by phone in Levels 3 & 4. Likewise, our accredited visitors phoned people they normally visit, to maintain connections with those who want regular company.
But our health and wellbeing promotion and social connection activities stopped at Lockdown Levels 3 and 4, as required. In our spring quarterly magazine we said we would only re-start our exercise classes, trips and coffee mornings when we got back to Level One.
But here we are, months later: still Level 2. Our leaders make decisions to try and keep everyone in the motu safe and I don’t envy them: it seems that whatever is decided, some people disagree. At Age Concern, the team and I have to make decisions too, and we know some people will disagree.
Recently, Age Concern re-started health promotion exercise classes, including Masterton and Featherston’s Steady-As-You-Go, even though we are not yet at Level 1. We did this with participant safety in mind; following Ministry guidelines. We consulted Age Concern NZ, Nuku Ora, class tutors, and participants.
There are rules, and we feel participants will be safe if everyone does what they are supposed to. We know how important exercise classes are for people’s health and wellbeing. Participation goes beyond physical health, contributing to how a person feels in life. Being in a weekly class can impact a person’s happiness, positive relationships and self-care.
The Age Concern coffee mornings and trips facilitate social ties with other people. They are a place where people feel they belong and are valued. Social connection is vital to our health and wellbeing and a lack of social connection affects our physical and mental health. But we’ve made the very difficult decision to not restart coffee mornings or trips, and we won’t hold our outreach office hours.
The implications weigh heavily on all of us at Age Concern. People want to get out, interact, catch up. People are lonely, suffering, desperate and worried. Again, we have been asking people, and most agree with us. We feel that the risk is higher when groups travel in a bus to an event, or meet to share food.
We acknowledge that individuals are doing this now, as families and groups of friends, and that is everybody’s right. And we acknowledge that others are comfortable managing the risk. Age Concern will continue to look for safe ways of bringing people together, particularly as the weather improves. I welcome your ideas about how we can do that. We are committed to meeting the needs and interests of older people, koroua and kuia. If you want to chat, call Age Concern Wairarapa: 06-377-0066
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