Aged People, the Challenge of Society

Arta Demaj, MA

At age 76, Azize Belegu is settling into a new home. The grandmother of eight and great–grandmother of twelve recently moved to: “Shtëpia e Jetës”, a public institution in Peja, which deals with accommodation of elderly people. Krasniqi has placed a vase with flowers on balcony and some toys on sleeping room, to remind her on place where she has lived with her beloved.

In a lot of ways, Belegu is like many elderly Albanian women; she has never worked in any institution and gets 40-euros per month. She is dependent entirely on this sum of money to support her self in late days of life. However, in other ways, she is different from many of her contemporaries, she lives alone.

“There is a cultural preference in the Albanian community to want to care for a loved one in the home, to keep them close to children, grandchildren and their community” says Xhavit Shala, a sociologist which has done some studies regarding to these issues. “There is a lot of tradition in the culture, but there is also a lot of change within the population. Clearly, we are going to see more elderly Albanians living alone.”

Shala’s research, examines health care and aging in our society. His basic concern comes down to one question: “Who will be responsible for elderly Albanians, the members of generations that get 40-euros per month, when they can no longer care for themselves”?

“The accumulation of economic disadvantages can really place the elderly, at a very high risk for reliance on their families,” says Shala.

Modern Albanians are caught in a dilemma. They have a tradition of caring for their elders at home; these elders need their care and have few other options. At the same time, Albanians of present days may not have the resources, either economically or functionally, to care for them. They may also lack the resources to finance alternative care.

“The people I have spoken with often express the guilt they feel with not really being able to be there for their families as much as they would like to,” says Shala. “All families want that level of support as we get older. It’s a big predictor of whether we’re going to be able to have a healthy end-of-life experience. But for Albanians, there is a very strong cultural expectation for family members to be there.”

The social changes, in particular economic problems, facing Albanian families and the expected increase in the number of elderly Albanians are likely to alter this in the decades to come. “Addressing the accommodation needs of the elderly Albanians is far too important to our country not to deserve our serious attention,” Shala says. “I am not so optimistic that we will resolve these problems in the near future”.

Unlike Shala, Belegu is hopeful. Inside her apartment, she has set photos of her children, grandchildren and great–grandchildren. She works a complicated decorative cover. She is still getting to know her neighbors, joking that there is no way to get everyone outside their apartments at the same time.“But I think it’s going to be great here,” says she. “I’m thankful that people do this for elderly people so that we can, at least, have a place to go”.