Mubarak bin Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, Executive Director of the Centre for Elderly Empowerment and Care (Ehsan)
Although confronting the coronavirus requires a ‘whole of society’ approach and the engagement of well-informed and responsible citizens and government, private, and civil society, it is a fact that older persons are the most vulnerable population group who need the most protection and support.
In a statement to The Peninsula, Mubarak bin Abdulaziz Al Khalifa (pictured), Executive Director of the Centre for Elderly Empowerment and Care (Ehsan), said that “In order to continue empowering and supporting older people and their families during this crisis and home quarantining phase, Ehsan sees its role in community-based outreach and support for this particular age group a national and collective social responsibility.”
They are the dearest to our hearts- they are our parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents, the older population that Ehsan is dedicated to serve and empower, he added.
Ehsan supports older persons and their families in many ways, including reaching out to all elderly people who are beneficiaries of Ehsan’s services (home-care, physical therapy, and Ehsan clubs) through the launching of a centre-wide tele-community outreach service that regularly checks in with older persons to assess their overall condition and provide advice, reassurance, and raise their morale. Text messages with key awareness raising guidance are also being disseminated to the mobile phones of registered families, said the Ehsan Director.
He also said among other ways to help elderly people is establishing a helpline service that receives calls from older persons in the community and their families and provides them with guidance, general psycho-social support during this crisis, and referral when needed.
“We continue to care for older persons residing at Al-Iwa Residential home who do not have any other shelter, taking all necessary precautions health measures to protect them and keep them well,” he said
The Director added that Ehsan is launching an awareness campaign entitled ‘Their health is precious to us’ through social media platforms to disseminate information and raise awareness about the virus and its consequences, and empower older persons with knowledge and advice on how to safeguard the mental and physical health in the coming weeks and months.
It will activate remote day care programs for older persons who are members of Ehsan Clubs, and engage them in using digital modes of communication on which they were previously trained by Ehsan with the aim of occupying the time of older persons in a way that benefits them and keeps them connected.
Ehsan is one of the centres affiliated with Qatar Foundation for Social Work. From March 15 to 31, Qatar Foundation for Social Work and the centres affiliated with it have provided more than 10,000 services.
About 5,080 people have benefited from these services.
