Over 1,700 surveys on ageing completed in Bangladesh
As part of Age Demands Action this year, we are doing a global survey on what it's like to get older in the world today.
Surveys are being collected in over 20 countries and the results will help to inform our campaigning on older people's rights all over the world.
I am an Age Demands Action activist and I work as a Programme Officer for the Resource Integration Centre (RIC) in Bangladesh. So far, we have already managed to collect 1,700 surveys on ageing! This is how we did it:
We started off by targeting the different geographical areas in the country and we collected information from all ages of people so that we could get a diversity of views.
We wanted to know how many people are aware of ageing issues in Bangladesh and to make people more aware of these issues.
As there is no internet access for rural people, we had to conduct the survey by filling in the questionnaire on paper, with help from the field staff. We had to translate the questionnaire into Bangla and then send them to all the area coordinators of our working areas.
We sent the survey link to more than 30 NGOs as well as family members and acquaintances. Some of our colleagues also gave the online link to the survey on their Facebook to convince people to join with this global action.
What we found out
We have learnt from this survey that people in rural areas are not much aware of elderly issues.
In most cases, people between 19-29 are getting healthcare very easily, but it is my opinion and observation that this is because they are still depending on their parent's support for getting healthcare.
The government should provide free health facilities
In the countryside, health facilities are not adequate for older people. The government should provide free healthcare services to older people in rural as well as urban areas.
Middle class young people are not interested in ageing issues
Middle class young people are not interested in ageing issues and they skipped this question when they filled in the survey. I asked why they did not answer it and they said without any hesitation that they have no idea about older people, their needs or how they are contributing to society.
Our survey team has worked together enthusiastically. We are passionate about working for the well-being of older people and want to change the mindset of the people in our society so that they show a positive attitude towards older people."
60.5% of people in Bangladesh feel that their society values older people. This is a significantly higher result than in the rest of the world and comes from a country where older people have had access to a non-contributory pension since 1997. Perhaps this figure would increase worldwide if more countries followed Bangladesh's example.
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