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50
incontinent laundry service, whilst needing attention - frequently
almost immediately - does not present a normal picture of conditions
associated with old people, but should rather be considered as a
pathological case requiring remedial treatment; this is beyond the
scope of the Public Health Inspectors. The cleaning up and clearing
of accumulations usually associated with such a case is in no way
different from that which would be required in a similar case of a
person of younger years.
The main problem, which could be generalised (although with
specific exceptions) arises from shortage of money. There are broadly
three categories of circumstances:
1) the owner/occupier.
2) the controlled tenant
3) the owner of tenanted property
In all three cases, the shortage of money results in the maintenance
of the property being neglected. The money shortage inevitably
arises from the limited income of fixed pensions and the income is
insufficient to cover the costs of repair and redecoration of the
living accommodation. The effect is also aggravated by the physical
inability to render 'do-it-yourself' services in similar manner to
the efforts of younger generations.
Each of the three categories has similar results on the
properties. The dilapidation becomes more intense, and the resultant
deterioration requires greater eventual expense to rectify.
The retired person who is an owner-occupier does not normally
come to the attention of the Public Health Inspector as a result of
his own initiative (apart from enquiries for grants under the Clean
Air Act); indeed, in the majority of cases there would be little
purpose as there are few occasions on which the Council can provide
much assistance through the Public Health Inspector to an owner
occupier. Contact with such a person may arise, possible, only after
the accommodation may have deteriorated to an extent that adjoining
property is affected. A typical example would be where a leaky
gutter causes dampness in the neighbouring house, and the occupier
affected complains to the Health Department. Upon inspection of the
offending property, a typical picture may emerge. The elderly
occupants may use only two rooms of the house, the other rooms being
in disuse and becoming damp and dilapidated. The whole premises may
be badly in need of redecoration, and the room nearest the offending
gutter may be virtually uninhabitable. The only action that the
Public Health Inspector can take is to require the repair of the
offending gutter in order to prevent nuisance to the neighbouring
house. Whilst it is not strictly the Public Health Inspector's
problem as to how the house owner is going to afford the repair
required, it will, nevertheless, be asked of him. It is this real
difficulty of finding a practical solution which can be considered as
the basic problem underlying the work of the Public Health Inspector
in relation to old people.