Editorial | Exercise for the elderly

The exercise and recreation initiative for older people, launched last week by Jamaica’s health ministry, is a good idea, of which the people for whom it is  meant need further and better particulars.

They should be assured  that it will be sustained, rather than a passing public relations fad. For instance, the people who attended the first event at Montego Bay’s Harmony Park on Friday should be clear on when, how, and how often they will take place, and if the structured exercise routines were one-offs, only  for the launch.

In other words, having been enticed  by a strong promotion  campaign  to come out for the initial event, are the seniors expected to sustain the effort by individual or group motivation?

At the same time, the so-called Park Walker project raises the question of whether this programme might reasonably be rolled into the planned development of recreational parks for the elderly, which Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness announced earlier in the year, and whether a segment of Harmony Park could be specifically for older people and their families.

That Jamaica has begun to pay greater attention to the needs of the elderly  is an important, and necessary, policy shift.   Jamaica has a greying population.

As the island’s demographic experts have pointed out, in 1960, as Jamaica headed towards Independence, over 41 per cent of its population – (DEL/ WERE) under the age of 15.  That figure is now halved to 20.9 per cent.

When Jamaica entered Independence, the proportion of the population 65 and over was less than half of today’s 9.7 per cent.  By 2050, the demographers say, that age cohort, on the  current trajectory, will be heading towards a fifth (18.5 per cent) of the population. 

At that time, children are expected to make up 16.9 per cent of the population. For the first time in modern Jamaica, there will be more people in the population characterised as elderly than there are children.

That has implications for economic policy and social welfare. A smaller proportion of work-age people will have to generate the income and surpluses, and pay the taxes, to support an expanding elderly population.

There are ramifications for the healthcare needs that come with growing older, especially in a society with high  levels of non-communicable diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, especially among older people. 

Over three in 10 adult Jamaicans (34.9 per cent) suffer from high blood pressure. The figure rises to six in 10 for people 55 and older.

With respect to diabetes,while 12 per cent  of the population is estimated to have the disease, among elderly people (65 and older) the rate is upwards of 40 per cent. Another 12 per cent are on the cusp of having diabetes.

Along with diet, regular exercise is a good way to manage these so-called lifestyle diseases - among all age cohorts.  Moreover, exercise, and just being active, is good for the physical and psychological well-being of the elderly, who, experts say, can suffer from a sense of isolation. They often lack quality interaction with other people.

Which makes the Park Walker initiative that was launched in Montego Bay within the framework of the health ministry’s broader Jamaica Moves lifestyle project, a potentially valuable programme.

Dr Simone Spence, the director of health promotion in the health ministry, is right (IN SAYING) that “sometimes the hardest part of this (getting out to exercise) is just getting started, putting on your shoes, coming out, and taking that first step, that first walk”. 

“....When we walk together… we encourage each other; we stay connected, and it makes the journey easier and more enjoyable,” Dr Spence said.

However, the other dimension of the programme on Friday - the choruses and organised aerobics - added to the fun.  The event became more than (JUST) exercise. It was also an outing. It is a format which many people will look forward to.  Which is why there is a  need for further and better particulars on how the initiative will unfold.

It is in this some context that Prime Minister Holness’ announcement in March of a park for the elderly, to be established on the King’s House lands, and another in Mandeville, was so fully embraced.  Those parks are to be built and maintained by the National Housing Trust.

However, The Gleaner repeats its suggestion that the proposed facilities be structured as  multigenerational recreation and play (DEL) play parks, designed with the needs of the elderly in mind, while allowing interaction between multiple generations of families.  Similar facilities are needed across Jamaica, given the paucity of green spaces for recreation, particularly by the elderly.

In Montego Bay, Harmony Park would only need only a few additions, and specific carve-outs, to add this dimension to suit older people.