What could be done to improve the lives of the elderly?

For many elderly people the latter part of their

life

is not a time to relax and enjoy retirement, but rather a difficult and unhappy period, owing to financial worries-1, failing health-2 and loneliness-3. As

life

expectancy increases, the average person lives well beyond the

age

of retirement.

As a result

, the elderly make up an ever-increasing percentage of society, which makes it more important than ever

for

Suggestion

in

a real effort to be made in improving the lives of senior citizens. One way to deal with the situation would be to ensure that the elderly have enough money on which to live. Obviously, when a person stops working, they still require a source of income to cover their basic needs

such

as food, accommodation and heating. A clear solution to the problem is for the government to make sure that the state pension is adequate for these needs.

Furthermore

, free financial advice should be made available to retired people so that the stress of worrying about money could be reduced as far as possible. Steps should

also

be taken to overcome

problems

Suggestion

the problems

the elderly face

as a result

of deteriorating health due to old

age

, and inadequate

health-care

the preservation of mental and physical health by preventing or treating illness through services offered by the health profession

healthcare

provisions. Again, the responsibility should fall to the government to provide access to the best health care available, which may necessitate paying for residential homes where the elderly can have round-the-clock nursing, or, at the very least, providing medication free of charge to all people over a certain

age

.

As a result

,

old

Suggestion

older

people would enjoy not only better health, but

also

peace of mind from the knowledge that they need not fear falling ill and being unable to pay for treatment. The lives of old people could

also

be improved if attempts were made to address the problem of social isolation which so many of them face. If we organised trips for the elderly to community

centers

an area that is approximately central within some larger region

centres

, visits from social workers or free bus passes to allow pensioners greater mobility, the effect

would be alleviate

Suggestion

would alleviate

the problem of loneliness which marks the lives of so many old people living alone far from their families. One final suggestion, which would help enormously, is to change the attitude of the community towards its older members, who are all too often seen as a burden on society and dismissed as having little to do with modern

life

. We need to be taught from an early

age

to respect the views of

old

Suggestion

older

people, and appreciate their broader experience of

life

.

This

would help society as a whole, and encourage appreciation of the role that

old

Suggestion

older

people can still play today. To sum up, there are several measures which could be taken to improve the lives of

old

Suggestion

older

people. If the government and individuals alike were to help, it would make retirement and old

age a

Accept comma addition

age, a

time to look forward to, rather than dread.