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fically, this, together with work-study, technical advancement,
automation and computerisation, will ultimately mean compulsory
earlier retirement for many with a consequent intensification of
pressure on the health, welfare and social services.
Perhaps the most vulnerable of these newly retired will be the
less well educated who have never learned to use their leisure fruitfully.
It seems that qualities are required for a happy retirement
other than those needed during a working life and some method
must be found to discover and nurture latent gifts and talents.
Failure in this respect will, in some instances, lead to apathy and
aimlessness and finally to decrepitude and, in others, to less
reputable, ethical or satisfying avenues of escape such as bingo,
gambling on dogs and horses or pools, etc. The one will give rise
to physical and mental impairment and the other to financial
embarrassment to be relieved at public expense. Persons retiring
from a more sophisticated milieu will demand more cultural, educational
and engrossing diversions. It is clear that the need for allembracing
pre-retirement courses is becoming imperative.
Unfortunately, with greater mechanisation, the bulk of the
country's manpower will be engaged in repetitive, boring and less
intricate and interesting tasks and, for youth especially, this will
prove a formidable obstacle. However, in this depressing outlook
there is one bright spot. Not all young people would wish their
leisure to be filled with outdoor pursuits such as mountain climbing,
canoeing, hiking, etc., and their enthusiasm could be channelled
towards various voluntary services for the older citizen. In fact,
their search for adventurous leisure-time activities could, with
mutual benefit, be successfully married to the elderly person's
need.
Of all the social problems likely to face the country within the
next two decades, that of the "retired" elderly will be the greatest
and not only in numbers. Retirement, especially on the scale
already presaged, is a comparatively modern phenomenon and
there is no previous experience or "know-how" upon which to rely
for guidance.
Future geriatric problems will be legion but we must not wait for
them to descend haphazardly upon us before attempting to deal
with them. If we do, the transition from the active elderly to the
incapacitated or disorientated old person will be precipitate,
socially costly and personally tragic.
The necessity for "vision" was never more clearly demonstrated.
Visiting
All services relevant to those elderly with diminished physical
and/or mental activity germinate from skilled and diligent visiting.