2030 and beyond…

What is the plan, for 2030 and beyond? It seems as if no one shall ever really know for sure.

It is a bit of a mystery bag, there waiting for all us senior smileys. 2030 is now five and half years away, down our tracks. We can all peer into what may well be a misty future.

In 2030, I shall be well on my way to the octogenarian status, so will my sisters. That is, if we all live that long. Let alone their husbands. Meanwhile, we can stay focused on maintaining health, peace and rest, while doing some form of exercising. These are the important things in life. We who are here are still alive and kicking, and life is for the living, until we pass beyond the between.

Who is going to look after this ageing demographic we all are, the baby boomers? In 2030, and beyond, if we are all (touch wood) still here, we might very well be classified as frail, ageing, elderly, or geriatric. We can wonder if there are enough geriatric support staff and funds for their salaries.

Well, no, dream on. Our noble governments are aiming to source anyone in the world who can aspire to gain and English qualification, such as IELTS, or a Cambridge PTE. Then they can earn peanuts for wages, cooking, cleaning, feeding, toileting, showering, cleaning for all the frail elderly in nursing homes, or in their own homes.

We all acknowledge that nursing homes are hideously expensive, and the people who are employed there are overworked and understaffed. Solutions are needed, and our ‘authorities’ seem unable to determine how to obtain adequate staff in a sustainable manner.

For 2030 and beyond, people who look after geriatrics all need training in the various aspects of this vocation, including infection control. At the moment, My Aged Care Packages and their providers do exist. But some providers come and then disappear. Some of them are employers who may a bit of bad press for exploiting their workers, for not listening to their real-world concerns about their workloads and inadequate salaries.

In my personal experience, I was an informal caregiver for a geriatric, residing in his own home. The MACS provider supplied excellent staff, but they all had a tale to tell. Every worker complained, and events came to a head one day. The case manager and a series of cleaners all resigned in protest. Now the provider has vanished, probably reopened under a different name, hiring new staff, under the same management. That could be a symptom of the battle ahead for all of us, to stay in our own homes as long as we can. That is what we all seek.

The geriatrics can be left in the lurch, but the rest of us survived. We are all hoping someone can offer some practical solutions for all is boomer babes and dudes for 2030. Where is the planning for us all in 2030 and beyond? I do not know, maybe we will all be left, frail and trying to soldier on, hoping not to annoy our medical systems, any more than necessary.

It is really not that far away in the big picture look at society, peering ahead to our perhaps misty future. Not even the population experts in Canberra really ever know for sure. Meanwhile, we boomers can hope to keep holding the fort as long as we can. We shall just resolve to enjoy each day as long as we can. Yes, ageing dudes and chicks, choose positives, today we all get a free kick!