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Appendix 4.
WELFARE OF THE ACED
The Public Health Department has been very keenly
interested in the welfare of elderly people. This is a problem on
which considerable attention has been focussed of late, and
towards the solution of which numerous efforts have been made.
In a district such as Southgate, with a population heavily weighted
towards the older age groups, the problem exists in an acute
form.
The joint problems posed by old age and accompanying
infirmity are by no means easy of solution. Measures adopted
in this Borough to alleviate the hardship so increasingly the lot
of elderly people include the provision of Home Helps, the establishment
of Clubs for elderly people, the provision of suitable
accommodation, the institution of a meals-on-wheels service, and
the setting-up of a special Committee which considers the problem
of elderly people and the measures which can be taken to provide
a happier and fuller existence. Although it can be stated that
much has been done, it is equally true that much still remains to
be done. The special problem of the elderly person who is unable,
by reason of age or infirmity, to look after himself or herself,
but for whom no bed n a hospital or institution is available, is
particularly clamant. This type of case is increasing, and stands
as a tragic criticism of our modern society.
The Public Health Department has been happy to co-operate
with the various voluntary bodies within the Borough interested
in the welfare of the aged. Close touch has been kept with the
Southgate Old People's Welfare Committee and with the Southgate
Social Service Council; talks and film shows have been given
at Old People's Clubs, while the Medical Officer of Health has
attended a number of Committee meetings at which the problems
of old age have been discussed. Very active steps have also been
taken to obtain hospital accommodation for aged people, whenever
possible. The Public Health Department will continue its work,
in the hope that a more permanent and happier solution will
eventually be found to the whole problem of old age and infirmity.
We cannot afford to neglect our aged, to blind ourselves to
the fact that they have a very definite call upon our services. A
district such as Southgate can never say that its future lies with
the younger generation ; this is a truism which, as so often
happens, tells only half the truth. There is ample and immediate
room for an extension of the facilities available for the care of
the aged. One can only hope that it will be possible to effect this
extension within the not-too-distant future.
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