'It kills people': Single biggest problem for elderly is loneliness, says Cork advocate

An elderly resident of a nursing home told Cork senior citizens advocate Paddy O'Brien that she could see already see the bouquets of flowers and crocodile tears at her own funeral - but all she really wanted was a visit from her grown up sons and daughters. 

Six months later the woman passed away, Mr O'Brien said, after he issued a call for the grown up sons and daughters to visit their parents if they were in nursing homes during a speech delivered to Mallow Rotary Club at an event last week. 

In his address, Mr O'Brien spoke about lengthy waiting list for audiology tests to get hearing aids fitted, operations to fix cataracts, hip surgery and to get home help for the increasing number of people living at home.  

He also said there were issues in terms of the lack of public health nurses and the increasing workload on those who are still public health nurses. 

"The greatest single problem being experienced by the elderly is loneliness and they can experience that whether they're in long term care or living at home," he said. 

"The real victims here are the vulnerable people who live alone - there are 189,000 people living alone in Ireland and many of them are housebound."

Mr O'Brien said that loneliness was like conventional diseases. 

"It kills people, you can't go to a doctor or phone one or call to a chemist with your medical card, saying you're very lonely. They can't do anything for you, there's no medication there - the only cure for loneliness is the human touch and I've been highlighting that for many years.

"The visitation of the elderly is so important and I'm always asking people to keep in contact with your elderly relatives, neighbours, friends. Keep contact with them and knock on the door every so often, a knock on the door can save a life."

Mr O'Brien said that visitation of the elderly should be part of the curriculum for secondary school students.  

He gave different examples of elderly people who engaged their postman in conversation so they could speak with someone or answer the news reader on TV just to hear the sound of their own voice.  

Mr O'Brien, who has been conducting talent contests for the over 65s in nursing homes for many years, said that he had recently been visiting a nursing home and had been told that the next time some residents would see their relatives is when they were dying as the nursing home would send for them.  He appealed to grown up sons and daughters to visit their elderly parents regularly as they had given them "the precious gift of life."