Honouring Our Seniors & Elders Initiative

Ghana Association of Hamilton launches Honouring Our Seniors & Elders Initiative, a first-of-its-kind initiative to help our seniors and elders alleviate the loneliness and isolation faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the COVID-19 pandemic affects us all, several research findings suggest that its impacts have been worse for immigrant retirees, seniors, and racialized populations.

Sadly, we can imagine that things would be a lot harder for our seniors and elders due to the restrictions and lockdowns put in place by the Public Health Services.

Specific Issues Faced by Our Seniors & Elders

Many of our seniors experience life on a fixed income as soon as they retire, resulting in financial difficulties as they may need to meet an unexpected expense. Some live alone or live with adult children who are frontline workers in the community and work a lot of hours so are hardly at home. Some spend a lot of time caring for their grandchildren while the parents are at work but finds themselves alone when the kids are in school.

 Our seniors often don’t drive and struggle to take public transportation due to the pandemic and other health issues. Some have lost interest in or motivation to do the things they previously found pleasure in, including attending meetings at various places of worship and community centers that offered opportunities for socialization. Therefore, living alone for our seniors can result in emotional challenges due to fewer opportunities to engage with others. Furthermore, due to limited access to electronic devices such as tablets and wi-fi, they are unable to connect with friends and families who live outside their immediate community.  

Our Response to Tackle Loneliness and Isolation among our Seniors & Elders

The Ghana Association of Hamilton sought and received funding from the Hamilton Community Foundation to address some of the issues faced by our seniors and help improve their mental and physical wellbeing. As a result, the following programs have been created under this initiative:

• The Seniors Buddy Transportation Program:  Provides easy and accessible transportation through volunteers to assist seniors with their daily errands.
• The Activity Day Program: Offer our seniors an opportunity to get together in small groups for physical exercises that suit their needs and enhance their physical and mental health. Under this program, we also arrange guest speakers to speak to the seniors in their native language on Health and Wellness topics, including Nutrition and global events like the pandemic.
• The Handheld Technology Device Program: Would provide electronic handheld devices such as tablets and internet access to seniors who are technologically savvy so they can access social media, improve their access to other family and friends who live out of town and overseas and link them to the outside world, so they are not so isolated. Through these devices, they can also play games such as Bingo etc., with friends.
• The Food Voucher program: Will offer our seniors free food vouchers to redeem at selected grocery stores.

 â€œThose who respect the elderly pave their own road toward success.”

-  African proverb

You can choose to sponsor a specific initiative or a new initiative in the association. Contact hamiltonghanaassociation@gmail.com.