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been introduced into our vocabulary, geriatrics and gerontology,
both having to do with the process of growing old and the grevious
afflictions which old age so often brings with it. We also know
that people's minds have been increasingly turned, not only to the
urgent, often tragic, problems which face an elderly individual, but
to the broader picture as it relates to the community and even to the
country as a whole.
I would require an entire document to do justice to this enormous
problem. That is not possible, although I feel that the
Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health should contain
detailed references to an aspect of health which affects a large and
rapidly increasing section of the community.
Old age comes to many people in many ways. Some are
relatively unaffected, retaining both their mental and physical
powers until an advanced age. Others remain in the care of relatives
or sympathetic friends and do not present a social problem
of any magnitude. Still more are affected by old age at a
relatively early period, and may require medical and nursing care,
either in their home or in a hospital or institution. To some elderly
patients money is no object; others are wholly dependent on
national assistance. Some elderly persons prefer to eat out where
they can be assured of congenial company; others are confined to
their houses or to one room, and welcome the meals provided by
Meals-on-Wheels Service.
These various examples are given, merely to show the diverse
often unrelated factors which go to make up the quite gigantic
problem contained within the two words "old age".
No one would be so stupid or so churlish as to deny that much
has been done in Southgate for elderly persons. Apart from help
provided by such statutory bodies as the Borough Council, the
Middlesex County Council through the Area Medcial Officer and
the Area Welfare Officer, and the National Assistance Board, the
help furnished by voluntary organisations, churches and by charitable
individuals is much too great, both in volume and in variety,
to be discussed in detail.
This is all very well, but it is by no means enough. It has
long been obvious that the problem must be studied as a whole,
not as an aggregation of individual units. In this way and in this
way alone can we be reasonably sure that all aspects of the problem
are receiving attention, that energy is not being uselessly expended,
that there is no duplication and re-duplication, that gaps are not
being left waiting to be filled.
I am very happy to be able to report that, during the year,
steps were taken to form an Old People's Co-ordinating Committee.
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