THE RECENT celebration of Senior Citizens' Week reminded me of how rapidly the Jamaican population is aging. When the baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, begin their retirement in less than a decade, the number of senior citizens is expected to swell even further.
While some Jamaicans are financially prepared for a long retirement, most of us are barely able to earn enough for day-to-day needs, not to mention saving for retirement.
How then can we prepare for our old age? My humble opinion is that only through public education about healthy lifestyle, avoiding or dealing with disabilities, avoiding disease, spiritual growth, strengthening of families, and maintaining physical & mental activities that we can give ourselves a fighting chance of aging successfully.
- Dr. Albert Chen, dilini@cwjamaica.com, Kingston 8, Via Go-Jamaica
