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Java hospital staff learn to care for old patients with mental disorders
A “SILVER tsunami” will slam into Indonesia in 15 years.
Out of an estimated population of 212 million in 2000, 16 million were aged 60 and above, but this number is expected to more than double to 35 million by 2025.
The surge in numbers of the elderly is expected to bring with it an increase in mental health problems such as dementia and depression.
But Lawang State Mental Hospital, the centre for geriatric care serving the province of East Java, which has an estimated 35 million people in 2000, is now more prepared than ever to withstand this tsunami.
It has an ongoing “train the trainer” partnership with experts from Singapore, which is facing its own “silver tsunami”.
Currently, there are about 338,400 residents aged 65 and above in Singapore; by 2030, it is estimated the figure will more than double to 800,000.
The Singaporean volunteers, who include at least 10 psychogeriatricians, nurses, occupational therapists and social workers, hail from institutes like Changi General Hospital (CGH), Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the Institute of Mental Health. Their average age is 40 and they share a common knowledge of working with elderly people with mental disorders.
The team is helmed by Dr Ng Li-Ling, 53, a senior consultant at CGH’s department of psychological medicine, who has 20 years’ experience in psychogeriatric care.
Teaming up in threes, they visited Lawang four times over the past two years.
The visits came after a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) and the East Java provincial government.
While SIF has organised previous projects in Indonesia, South and Southeast Asia, this is the first that focused exclusively on geriatric care.
Each visit to Lawang spanned five days. The Singaporeans conducted workshops to train their Indonesian counterparts in areas such as understanding mental illnesses, and activities to keep the minds and bodies of the elderly fit.
These included tips on reminiscence therapy, in which caregivers exercise elderly patients’ minds by talking about the past using old pictures. The elderly in turn can teach the younger caregiver something about the past, thus boosting their self-esteem.
The Singaporeans also visited the geriatric facilities at Lawang, which include 75 beds for the elderly in the 700-bed hospital, and a new centre for psychogeriatric services, which should be ready by 2015.
By the time the partnership concludes in two years’ time, the 11 Indonesians should be able to pass on their newfound knowledge and skills to their colleagues. They have plenty of work to do.
On top of the 75 beds, the team of about 30 health-care workers at the hospital handles 60 walk-in patients a day, and also frequently runs workshops on active ageing at community centres.
Compounding their workload, said Dr Ng, is the fact that “there will always be a problem in getting people to work in this line”, because of the tedious work and long hours. “The time to prepare for the future is now,” she added.
The Indonesians came to Singapore on Aug 26 for two weeks to tour local hospitals and day care centres. One of their stops was St Luke’s ElderCare in Hougang, where they played games and sang songs with about 35 senior citizens.
The tours were an eye-opener for Mr Karmudji, a 57-year-old nurse, who has 39 years’ experience.
Said Mr Karmudji, who, like many of his countrymen, goes by one name: “In terms of managing and serving the elderly, Singapore does it so much better.”
But the Singaporeans also learnt how to work in another country with different health care models.
Dr Ng has praise for her foreign counterparts: “Even though the staff are very busy, they still genuinely care for their patients.”
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