Podcast An old issue: EPISODE 9 – Today for them, tomorrow for us!

Hello, my name is Ricardo Crispim, and this is the 9th episode of the podcast "An Old Issue!" I hope you're all doing well on that side.

It's true that in the last episode, I said that today I would talk about the voice of older people in today's society. However, I decided to make a small change, although what I'm going to talk about somehow leads to the initial theme that brought me here. So today, I want to share the main ideas that were the subject of reflection during a recent session with students from courses related to health and care of the elderly at a professional educational institution in Porto last week. Porto, a beautiful city! A city that never disappoints!

So, here we go!

I started working with older people at the age of 23, in a nursing home. When I told people where and with whom I worked, they would say that I deserved to work in a better place. At first, I confess I didn't quite understand what they meant by that. I liked it. Even though, I didn't feel completely fulfilled initially (because what I really wanted was to be a teacher), what they said puzzled me.

No matter how much I tried to understand what they meant by that, I never managed to come to a logical conclusion. Although some questions did come to my mind. One of them was: Why aren't older people worthy of having a 23-year-old man in their company? What sins had they committed to deserve only the worst?

When these questions came to mind, I quickly thought, "Sooner or later, my grandparents or my parents could be among these people, and by that time, I want them to be in good company!"

Simple!

Maybe it's simple for me because for the people who said I deserved better, it wasn't. Maybe they didn't have loved ones who had grown old. Maybe they themselves didn't want to grow old. This to me, seemed strange because I didn't actually know anyone who wanted to die young, and most likely, the people who said I deserved to work in a better place didn't want to die at 30 or 40 either. Anyway…

During the 13 years that I worked at the nursing home, I learned a lot, I refined some techniques, and adjusted many others. I talked about some of these techniques with the students at this school because it seemed relevant to the work these young people will do in the future.

Promoting active and healthy aging may seem like an easy task at first glance. For those who are less familiar with these matters, or for those who think they know how to do everything or, at worst, think that anything is enough for older people, they think active and healthy aging is basically getting the elderly moving, taking them for walks, making drawings, taking pictures on their birthdays, and posting on social media, or celebrating holidays as if it were a kindergarten.

All of this would be valid if these older people had actually been listened to. And I emphasize "actually" because there are professionals who do listen to the elderly, but then they disregard what they heard just because it came from an old man or an old woman, who, as we know, don't say anything worthwhile.

Moving on…!

To combat this scourge, as usual, and in the communication I gave, I always recommend putting oneself in the shoes of these older men and women who are constantly marginalized and disregarded in the most trivial matters. Choosing clothes, going to the bathroom, what to eat, the hours they receive visitors... everything is chosen by everyone else, except the elderly.

I suggested that the students do quite challenging exercise in today's world, which I have already mentioned in Episode 3 titled "Shoes." The exercise I recommended to the students was to step out of their comfort zone and give voice to older people, advising, for example, that they be listened to. Allowing people to wear whatever they want, or to have support when going to the bathroom whenever they want, to eat whatever they want, to receive visitors whenever they want, is a right that applies to everyone... maybe except when you're old. But that's the challenge: ensuring that fundamental rights are upheld, even when they’re old. Because, as I say, today it's for them, tomorrow it's for us!

My goal wasn't to evangelize, but I couldn't convey anything other than what I believe in, so I gave them two more tips:

The first is based on the fact that the education that prepares and reconditions professionals who work with older people is still very basic. Education today is prepared for the challenges of the present, but it has difficulty positioning itself in the future. This partly justifies why the practices of caring for older people, in most cases, still revolve around washing bottoms and feeding them.

Therefore, there is an exercise that is quite capable of guaranteeing the rights of the elderly and, consequently, ensuring that they are heard. Do you know what it is? Making continuous training a reality. In Portugal, workplace training is mandatory up to 40 hours annually, less than that is punishable. Solid training of HR not only empowers professionals to face the challenges of the job market, but also ensures that the experience and wisdom of the elderly are valued and listened to, promoting an inclusive and enriching environment FOR ALL. That’s why, on that Friday, I warned that, no matter how excellent the training provided at that school was, these students could not be satisfied with just 3 years of training to be good professionals. I asked them never to lose heart and always to seek more to be good professionals. And being a good professional goes beyond being a good technical practitioner. Being a good professional requires being a good person, a truly good person. And how will they know they are or were good professionals? When remembered with fondness. And that, besides a lot of work, takes a lot of time.

Now for the second tip. But... Well, to know what the second tip is, I invite you to listen to the next episode. What I can tell you is that it involves a notebook.

Thank you for being on that side and helping me think.

I remind you that InEnglish is supporting this podcast with a full translation into English of what I say here. I leave the link in the description.

I’m counting on you for the next episode. Until then.

I am Ricardo Crispim. Stay well.