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Making It Safer for Seniors to Stay Active

Raising Up Trained Caregivers


I was riding on the subway in Wuhan one afternoon, standing in the middle of a very crowded car. A frail senior gentleman was sitting in a seat near me. When we came to the next stop, a senior woman, who was standing by the door, started shouting at him to hurry and get off the train. He stood up and those of us around him helped him get to the doorway as quickly as possible, but by the time he got there, the door started to close. The woman was already on the platform, but he was still standing in the car. When the doors closed, the glass platform door closed on his arm, and the car door closed on his head. 

Immediately, the people near the exit pushed the doors back open, which allowed him to get off the train, and he was able to walk away with the woman on the platform—unharmed. Once the doors closed again, the train left the station.

Thankfully, this story did not end in disaster. Fellow passengers helped the elderly gentleman and the subway doors re-opened as they were designed to do. But there may be times in the future when things don't happen that way. And I don't know the emotional impact this incident had on the man. Will he dare to ride the subway again? Will he even dare to walk out his apartment door again?  

As the train pulled away, I thought about what it is like to be frail. Even simple things like riding the subway can be frightening. As many seniors get older, they become afraid to go out and remain active. As they start to be less active, they become more frail. Often they become inactive to the point that they can barely move at all. Research has shown that "frail individuals fall more often, need more assistance, have more complications related to surgery and chronic disease, and are more likely to die compared to similar people without frailty."[1]

Trained caregivers can help prevent senior frailty by making it safe for them to remain active. One of my company's caregivers would have helped the man get to his feet and walk toward the door and prepare to exit the train before it stopped. Once the doors opened, his caregiver would have helped him safely exit the train. 

The church of China can help raise up caregivers to serve seniors. There are churches and companies who can train Christian caregivers and connect them with seniors in need.

I’ll never forget the image of the subway door as it closed on that man’s head. It’s a powerful metaphor for what frail seniors experience. A trained caregiver can open the door to a healthy active lifestyle for seniors, and keep them from becoming frail and scared.

Image credit: 403_1000891by bricoleurbanism via Flickr.
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Paul deMena

Paul deMena

Paul deMena, together with his wife and children, have lived in Wuhan since August, 2000. He leads an international team working in the areas of international education, family medicine, and counseling. Paul studied chemical engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology and worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Division before going …View Full Bio


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