Breaking Down Barriers: Helping The Elderly Learning New Skills
I often think about old age. Not that I’m in a hurry to grow old, as I most certainly am not! I think when you watch someone grow old, it can have a profound effect on your own outlook on life.
I lost my mum when I was 18. She was just 50 years old.
She had ovarian cancer.
To think that my mum didn’t have the chance of growing old makes me feel really sad. Something that many people take for granted and often moan about, but I bet my mum would have done anything to have the opportunity to grow old. To be able to have met her grandchildren and watch them grow up would have been such a wonderful thing for her, and I know she would have been the best nanna there ever was!
On the flip side, my mother in law, who is in her late eighties, has lived a long life, but I have so many concerns about her. I worry that she only leaves house once a week to come over mine for Sunday dinner. I worry that she lives alone and I worry about her mobility around the house.
I’ve often suggested a mobility scooter, so that she can go out, even if it is just down the end of the road she lives on. A change of scenery, albeit a small change, would be beneficial to both her general and mental health in my opinion.
All too often elderly people are written off and forgotten about which is terribly sad. I’d hate to think that when I’m old and grey, I’d be forgotten about. Cast to the side and left for the inevitable. It must be an awful existence, but sadly one that does exist.
However, it doesn’t need to be that way. Bathing solutions have created the Breaking Barriers campaign to help break social barriers for elderly people.
Did you know that for the first time in history we are about to see the number of our senior generation surpass that of the youth, with those 65 and up making up 15.6% of the global population by 2050!
Advances in healthcare and standards of living have improved quality and length of life for older generations, but it has Bathing Solutions asking, ‘Why does society often cast off its seniors as ‘incapable’ or ‘unable’ to learn new skills?’
Bathing solutions are hoping to change this and break the stigma by encouraging each other to take action and get inspired to learn new skills or tricks of the trade. With a variety of skill-share videos, blogs and more, why not pop over and see what you can do. Don’t forget to share your progress using #BreakingBarriers.
