Pretoria - East Lynne, Pretoria non-profit organisation Rea Thusa (We Help) has vowed to facilitate effective, efficient and accountable health and social care services for senior citizens and those in need of palliative care.
This was as the world commemorated World Elder Abuse Awareness Day last week.
Elder abuse can take various forms such as physical, psychological or emotional, sexual and financial abuse.
The NPO’s founder and CEO Virginia Keppler said it was a continuous battle for the poor, both young and old, to get proper health-care services as well as decent services in old-age homes and frail care centres.
“This is where we are very in touch with the community, and we are on the side of those who cannot speak for themselves. We fight for them to be treated in accordance with our Constitution.”
They were always ready to help improve situations and bring those guilty to book, and assisted institutions to better their services by providing workshops.
“We also provide humanity workshops to old-age homes, frail care centres and private and public institutions. We already had eight of these, and it was very informative and beneficial to both caregivers, nursing staff and the elderly,” said Keppler, who runs Rea Thusa with Yusuf Young.
Some of the cases the organisation has helped included that of the late Ouma Marais, 76, who was tied to a steel bench at Mamelodi Hospital.
Another case was that of Fatima Callaghan, 58, who, according to Keppler, was allegedly tortured, starved, burnt and beaten at a frail care centre in Johannesburg for over four years.
Another elder, Therese Lewis, 82, allegedly suffered negligence at an old-age home for people with dementia in Mpumalanga. Lewis was removed from the home in February, and an investigation is ongoing.
Keppler said there many cases of abuse at institutions that were not documented because “no one is reporting the abuse”.
Pretoria News