After our meeting with Abbeyfield Director Wendy Lessing last
Friday, we have gained some insight in to the operations of the organisation,
along with ideas and information to consider going forward.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of
the first Abbeyfield home; located in Claremont, Cape Town. However, in the
current economic climate they are finding it progressively difficult to find
ways and means of growing the business and to be able to reach the increasing
number of elderly people in an array of communities.
Right now, with Wendy recently being appointed Director of
Abbeyfield, there is a renewed energy to find a model that consistently works
for the provision of accommodation and companionship for the elderly. While in
earlier years loneliness was a major factor, the actual need just for
accommodation itself is becoming more prevalent.
While ideally the organisation would like to reach out to both urban
and rural communities, a decision needs to be made as to what can best serve
the organisation right now. This could be directed towards the urban poor
communities such as Gugulethu, or those with more resources, such as Claremont.
The process of procurement of land in townships is something of an unknown, and
one that we shall have to look into.
Regardless, Abbeyfield feels that they need to focus on having a
minimum of 10 people in each home in order to make it economically viable.
Especially since the running costs of a house are rising exponentially. While
residents generally pay a monthly rental figure that has to cover running costs
such as water and electricity, the question of whether these need to be charged
additionally is one to ponder. However, this does present a host of other issues
within the homes themselves, such as the inter-relationships of residents.
Considering the use of solar products is another area in to which we can
research.
It should also be emphasised that there are no laundry, catering or
frail care facilities. Residents are required to be fit and able enough to look
after themselves in this respect, and thus the essence of the homes become
companionship. The idea is to not uproot the elderly from where they have lived
for a number of years by putting them in to remote retirement villages; but to
rather keep them close to existing family and friends.
The above has touched briefly on what we shall be delving in to
during this semester; and clearly we have our work cut out for us! Nonetheless,
I hope we can address and tackle every issue we come across and provide
meaningful and effective solutions to what is a genuine issue in our
communities; even though most people are non the wiser to its presence.
From here on we shall need to approach issues on a smaller scale, in
order to build up our final results and recommendations for Abbeyfield SA.
Ross
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