Kodokushi (孤独死) – lonely death refers to a Japanese phenomenon of people dying alone and remaining undiscovered for a long period of time. (Wikipedia)
Even with all the modern opportunities for staying socially active and in contact with our friends and family, our society has an increasing number of lonely people. One of the worst fears seniors have is to die alone. It has become so common that the Japanese have created own word for it. We see the same eldercare-related problem in both countries we operate; Finland and Singapore.
How is Hovi Care helping to overcome this lack of inspiring social activities for the elderly? Hovi Care is fighting the sad trend by seamlessly joining seniors together via our various activities in our Hovi Clubs . Our goal, as specified in our care model’s in HoviCommunity-part, is to make sure that our senior clients will have at least one friend at Hovi Club.
What makes it important that you have someone to talk to and to listen to? How is it so important that someone who shares your enthusiasm about your childhood events and understands your background? We strive to make that happen by encouraging active participation in Hovi Club program, fostering interaction between our clients, our staff and clients and all the partners who visit us.
On top of the healthcare work we do in our senior activity centers, we also hope to help the family members to understand better and fulfil the daily needs of their loved ones. The activities of daily living (ADL) are a baseline, but there can be more. This work includes advising family members of the seniors, training them if necessary and providing tips and tricks about the rehabilitation of the elderly family member.
How can one learn more about caring people with dementia? Hovi Care will shortly publish our newest Hovi Academy training content. It is called: Encountering people with Dementia, and it will be available to the family members of our clients shortly. The dementia training has three topics: Respect, Appreciation and Gaining trust. Please contact your center manager for details.
What can we do to make the life of our seniors more interesting and socially active? Let’s make sure that our loved ones will have plenty of activity and possibilities for professional rehabilitation so that they can feel cherished and valued.