AMMAN –– Hiyam, an inmate with
Alzheimer’s at an elderly house, can still recognize a brother of hers who used to visit her at
Princess Muna Al-Hussein Center for the Elderly. But since COVID-19 hit the
country, she cannot see him any more under a no-visitation rule meant to
protect vulnerable groups.
اضافة اعلان
The 55-year-old
Hiyam (not her real name) was walking along the corridor and seemed normal
before she burst into crying, leaned her back on the wall and said: “Get me out
of here. I want to see my brother.”
The
psychological toll of the pandemic, according to workers at the home, is one of
several challenges the senior citizens have to deal with, with these concerns
being shared with other such facilities taking care of the elderly in the
Kingdom.
President
of the White Beds Society in Amman, Maisoun Armouti, explained that visits by
relatives and friends were at first banned, then were allowed with
restrictions. As a result, the residents “are getting increasingly irritable
and are being harsher” in dealing with the home’s employees.
“We
understand how hard it has been for them during this time,” she said. The residents
wait not only for family members, but they were also used to seeing young men
and women from schools and colleges spending time with them. This is no longer
the case, until further notice.
For his
part, President of Princess Muna Al-Hussein Center Father Farah Haddad shed
light on other aspects of the situation. The slow economy, he said, led to
dwindling donations to the organization. This, in turn, has affected the
quality of the services offered to the guests.
Another blow to the care providers,
in the case of the center, was that some employees were stuck in their homes
during last year’s lockdown and continued to receive their wages, while those who
were on duty were paid double to do the job for everybody, according to Father
Haddad. He added that two centers overseen by the Ministry of Social
Development had to be closed due to the economic crisis in Zarqa and Amman and
their guests distributed among the remaining homes.
The ministry, according to the center’s
president, refers cases to different homes and pays JD280 per month for each
resident. The actual cost, meanwhile, is JD700, and in an ideal situation, the
difference is offset by donations. These donations have run thin as donors have
also been supporting other causes, such as those of refugees and the national anti-COVID-19
campaign.
Armouti echoed those concerns, but
added that the guests of the White Beds Society also miss the social life and
support from the local community. People from the community used to check on
the guests and help them meet their needs, sometimes financially.
Nine elderly houses across the
Kingdom, housing 367 residents, have all received their first dose of the
vaccine, and 164 are awaiting their second jab. All the residents at the White
Beds Society, except those whose health situation does not allow it, were
vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of a national drive that gave priority to the
elderly. By the time the efforts pay off, life as they have known it will
hopefully be back and Hiyam might see her dear brother again.
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