THERE’S NO RETIRING FROM LIFE

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

There’s a beautiful clip of a young woman singing for Ameen Sayani.

The veteran radio and television personality passed away recently at the age of  91. In the clip, he leans forward, listening attentively as the young woman – his granddaughter presumably – sings Rahi matwale, and even hums a few lines along with her.

On one of our visits to Lucknow, my maternal uncle, in his late 80s at the time, held animated discussions on politics with my husband, and refused to yield ground when it came to the virtues of their respective favourite mango varieties!

He also climbed the steep steps to the little room on the terrace where old books are stored and pulled out a few treasured copies for me, including East is East by George Mikes and Mahadevi Varma’s Saptaparna in the original Hindi.

He worked in India and the US as a scientist and his grasp of infectious diseases remains strong. I recall the time he drew a virus cell on the envelope of a wedding invitation lying on a table near him, when the alarm bells over the coronavirus were but faint and distant. He urged us to return to Canada soonest, “before the world shuts down” because the virus was deadly and would mutate.

I think of my father-in-law who admitted with a laugh that his body didn’t always co-operate when he failed to hop along with our son who was five at the time. “But in my head, I am 30!”

And he was. His mind sharp until his passing, he was in complete control of his banking, keeping track of all the stocks he’d invested in.

There’s one common thread between these three gentlemen – social engagement. All three were or remain very actively connected to those around them.

There’s much talk of the so-called “grey tsunami” these days.

Seniors 65-plus to make up a quarter of the population by 2030, announced a press release from Northern Ontario’s Canadore College which is leading the way to healthier ageing with its The Village initiative.

The only model of its kind in Canada, The Village is focused on collaborative, interprofessional education and the integration of Indigenous, Eastern, and Western healing and wellness practices. It is home to the College’s schools of Indigenous studies, human care, health science and social services, and sport and recreation. 

President and CEO George Burton shares a scary observation: Research shows that social isolation can be as harmful to one’s health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

“Together, we are solving issues facing our country by coming together inter-generationally, inter-professionally, and inter-culturally,” said Micheline Demers, The Village Collective Impact project manager.

Other solutions to the issue include ramping up immigration numbers – bringing in more and more people of working age to balance those who are ageing out of the system.

And I get it. A large percentage of seniors means fewer people of earning (and taxpaying) age. It means more expenditure on healthcare.

But seeing things only in terms of profit and loss diminishes the contributions seniors make – not only what they have contributed over their lifetimes, but what they continue to contribute.

Grant’s Desi Achiever Dr Samir Sinha is the head of geriatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital. He had said in an interview with Desi News that “It is not a very sexy or popular field. Collectively, we tend not to value this segment.” He illustrated his view with a case in point. No school of nursing, therapy or pharmacy in Ontario and all across Canada required all of its students to learn about geriatrics – while learning about paediatrics was a must.

Reiterating that as they lose family members and friends, seniors become increasingly socially isolated, he advocates for what he calls as “low-tech-high touch” approach.

In 2022, a working group was formed to research and develop the guidelines. This interdisciplinary group, the Canadian Coalition for Seniors Mental Health (CCSMH), consisted of leading experts in the study of social isolation and loneliness among older adults from across Canada. Members met over 18 months to advance this work by offering their clinical, research and professional expertise, evaluating research evidence, voting on recommendations, and writing the guidelines.

Here are some sobering statistics from them:

•  As many as 41% of Canadians aged 50 years and older are at risk of social isolation. Up to 58% have experienced loneliness.

• Among Canadians aged 50-64 years, almost one in four (23%) are very lonely. Another 41% are somewhat lonely.

• Worldwide, 25% of older adults are socially isolated, according to the World Health Organization.

Some of the health risks of isolation and loneliness among adults over 50 include:

• 32% increased risk of stroke.

• 25% increased risk of cancer mortality.

• 50% increased risk of developing dementia.

 In The World Until Yesterday, Jared Diamond has written of how experiential learning is discounted when we rely only on search engines that spit out facts.

“The problem for society as a whole is to use older people for what they are good at and like to do, rather than requiring them to continue to put in the 60-hour work weeks of ambitious young workers, or else going to the opposite extreme of stupidly imposing policies of mandatory retirement at some arbitrary age ( as remained regrettably widespread in Europe).”

Note, this book was published in 2012, well before Marine Le Pen’s proposal to bring the retirement age down to 60 in France!

Those who continue to have older people in their families around them should count themselves blessed.

Imagine missing out on Ameen Sayani singing Rahi matwale.