Gov’t to train unpaid caregivers as population ages

The government is preparing a national training programme for unpaid caregivers of elderly people, as Jamaica grapples with the challenges of an ageing population.

The initiative will be undertaken jointly by the ministries of health and wellness; labour and social security; and education, skills, youth and information. It will be overseen by Professor Denise Eldemire-Shearer, executive director of the Mona Ageing and Wellness Centre.

The programme will target family caregivers, most of whom are middle-age women, through a combination of short instructional videos and face-to-face training sessions.

“The video scripts have already been done. We are going to produce 15 three-minute videos … and we are going to have sessions … [targeting] family caregivers. We will identify them through the health centres, through the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC), and through the churches,” Eldemire-Shearer said.

A central aim of the initiative is to help older people remain independent and active for as long as possible.

“Many older people still want to be active, still want to be in charge, but they may need a little assistance … . We are concentrating on function, so muscle strength, balance, helping them to dress,” she explained.

Eldemire-Shearer said better support for caregivers could also reduce the number of elderly people abandoned in hospitals because relatives are unable to care for them.

“If we empower families to be able to look after their older persons, we can help them to cope and hopefully avoid the stress [and] the abandonment,” she said.

She also highlighted concerns about elder abuse, particularly financial and emotional abuse, noting that its true scale remains difficult to measure because many cases are never reported.

“We haven’t been able to document it because, when it’s happening in families, if you go in as a social worker or come in from the National Council, everybody shuts down on you,” she said.

The training programme will address those issues and the pressures often faced by caregivers.

“We’re going to talk about the caregiver burden. We’re going to talk about talking to somebody … . We have trained community health aides already. We have trained the supervisors already, so we are building up a cadre in the different sectors … . We have poor-relief offices as well,” Eldemire-Shearer disclosed.

Her appeal comes as Jamaica’s elderly population continues to grow. She urged Jamaicans to view older citizens as assets rather than dependants.

“We are going to have over 400,000 older people over the next few years. Let us see our older persons as a resource to the family and to the community … and, whereas they may not be financial contributors, let us recognise the contribution they can make to family and to community,” she said.

The comments coincide with the observance of Senior Citizens’ Month 2026 under the theme ‘Honouring a Golden Legacy, Shaping a Bold Future’.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security, in partnership with the NCSC, has organised a series of activities running from September 1 to October 8 to celebrate senior citizens across the island.