Volunteers wanted to help in seniors’ homes
Volunteers are being sought to take care of 200,000 home-bound senior citizens across the country and in doing so earn “points” towards receiving care when they become elderly.
Department of Older Persons deputy chief Ramrung Worawat said on Monday the “Time Bank” project needed volunteers with a “service mind” to help seniors with their housecleaning and meals and perhaps read to them.
Once registered, the volunteers are paired with an elder in need and can visit them in their spare time.
If the senior is bed-ridden, the volunteers undergo 18 hours of specialised training, Ramrung said.
Thailand is on track to become an “ageing society” by 2021, with the elderly accounting for 20 per cent of the population.
It is expected to be a “super-aged society” by 2031, when the elderly population reaches 28 per cent.
With 10.8 per cent of Thai seniors living at home alone as of 2017 and a quarter of them earning or receiving less than Bt30,000 a year, the Time Bank project was launched in mid-August.
More than 40 local administrative bodies are now participating.
Prospective volunteers can call 1300 or (02) 642 4305-6 or visit www.dop.go.th/th/news/8/1180.