Warehouses for Old People

Warehouses for Old People / 14ymedio, Orlando Palma
Posted on August 12, 2014

14ymedio, Orlando Palma, Havana, August 11, 2014 – "Very soon the best
businesses in Cuba will be trash and old people," blurts out the owner
of an old age home, without blushing. Places like hers aren't recognized
at all by the law, but they have emerged to meet the demand of an
increasingly aging people.

It is estimated that in a decade that more than 26% of the Cuban
population will be over 60. The needs of these millions of seniors will
be felt in Public Health, social security, and the network of old age
homes available in the country. Throughout the Island there are only 126
homes with room for fewer than 10,000 elderly, a ridiculous figure given
that the demands are increasing. With regards to specialized doctors,
the country has fewer than 150 geriatric specialists.

Housing problems are forcing more families to entrust the care of their
grandparents to state or religious institutions. That, coupled with the
economic problems and low pensions, make caring for the elderly ever
more complicated for their relatives.

There is no welcome sign and if someone calls to ask for details she
responds cautiously.

"My father of almost 90 got sick," says Cary, a entrepreneur who offers
services as a caregiver to the elderly. "I didn't want to send him to a
nursing home, so I had to devote myself to taking care of him full time.
Then it occurred to me I could do the same for other old people." The
woman has a thriving business, where she offers clients, "breakfast,
lunch, dinner and even snacks."

Cary's home is advertised online, costs at least 70 CUC a month and, its
owner says, "Here we have a hairdresser, barber, pedicures; they can
even stay from Monday to Friday. We treat our clients with kindness and
like family." There is no welcome sign on the pleasant home, if someone
is interested and calls to ask for details, she responds cautiously.
Potential clients must come recommended or be the friend of a friend.

On the list of self-employment professions permitted, is "caretaker of
the sick, disabled and elderly," but the license only allows attention,
without other benefits. Cary should take out several additional
licenses, as a dispenser of food—because the elderly eat in her
house—and a license to rent rooms, which authorizes overnight guests.
The cost of the three licenses would make her business unprofitable. She
already has problems with the police and now she has to tell the
neighbors that she is taking care of some of her father's "brothers and
cousins."

Despite the high prices, these initiatives are in great demand, due to
the limited capacity of the state asylums and their deteriorating
installations. Getting into these official places is not easy. You need
to go the family doctor, who will refer the case to a social worker. The
decision may take years, although some accelerate it by paying a
"stimulus" to get the paperwork in record time. Then you have to way for
a space to open in a place in the municipality or the province.

The situation reached a point of deterioration that the State was forced
to delegate the care of the Catholic Church

The old age homes hit bottom during the economic crisis of the 90s. The
situation got to the point where the State was forced to delegate part
of the care and hygiene tasks to the Catholic Church. Many of the old
age homes were almost completely overseen by religious congregations,
such as the Servants of the Abandoned Brothers, the Daughters of
Charity, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the Brothers of St. John of God.
Thanks to this collaboration complete collapse was avoided, although
they barely built and readied new sites.

Self-employed people have began to take a position in this sector:
private homes that are rebuilt to fit a hospital bed, the doors widened
for wheelchairs, and accessories are added to bathrooms to support older
people. All this is done with great discretion, without anything
noticeable from the outside of the house that would suggest a conversion
to a private asylum.

"Most of the cases we take care of come from far away," explains
Angelica, a retired nurse who has opened her own old age home. She has
competitive prices, around 60 CUC, and it includes clinical services and
physiotherapy, physical exercises and excursions to Saturday work parties.

The responsibility is great, but the families of the elderly are very
demanding, given the high price they pay. The majority are people with a
child who has emigrated who pays, from afar, for care for the father or
mother. "Sometimes they make first world demands, like an electric bed,
or putting cameras in the rooms to monitor what the old people do all
the time," Angelica complains.

I've had to accompany some of my clients in their last moments," the
lady says, who despite also being elderly herself is strong and agile.
"I can't advertise it, but I also offer the service of being with the
old man in his death throes, holding his hand, reading and talking to
him, so he doesn't feel alone at the moment of death."

"If my children continue with the business, soon I will be a client of
my own old age home," she says with a certain pleasure. A bell rings and
while she goes to feed a ninety-year-old sitting in front of the TV,
Angelica reflects outloud, "Don't let anyone send me to one of the
State's 'old folks warehouses.' I want to stay here."

Source: Warehouses for Old People / 14ymedio, Orlando Palma |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/warehouses-for-old-people-14ymedio-orlando-palma/