Analyze/ Whether they are nursing homes or even residences for independent elderly people, they are all social measures implemented on the basis of a particular observation: the aging of the world population which does not date of today, has imposed over the years, the growing gestation and development of a set of catering spaces intended to provide a peaceful existence to elderly people who wish it, and who have the means on the one hand, or who do not have and are really in need to the point of needing aid from the State, or from any private initiatives, whether for profit or not on the other hand. Indeed, according to an article published by the World Health Organization in October 2024 on aging and health, “all countries in the world are experiencing growth in both the number and proportion of elderly people in the population. By 2030, one in six people in the world will be 60 or older. At the same time, the population aged 60 and over will increase from 1 billion people in 2020 to 1.4 billion.”
Living in a retirement home: A life project
Even if it is a trend that is more developed in Europe and in United State of America, or simply outside the African continent, it should be noted that living in these very well-appointed spaces for some of them, is a luxury that not everyone can afford. Even in reference areas in the United States or Europe in particular, not everyone can afford a stay in a retirement home. In Europe and in 2020 according to Emeis, formerly called Opéra and specialized in the field of retirement homes and support for the elderly or vulnerable, the prices for a day varied between 55 Euros in Spain, and 305 Euros in Luxembourg. In other words, between 35,000 CFA F and 210,000 CFA F/day. This means that care is expensive whatever the context and even more so in Africa where only a privileged minority can afford such expenses.
Considered by a good section of African populations as a Western habit that breaks family ties, retirement homes are in fact soothing places. The point of view according to which they are opportunities for certain children to get rid of a parent who has become invasive is a simplistic assertion limited by African considerations which do not take into account several realities. Indeed, we do not always ask ourselves if everyone can afford 2,200 euros per month or 1,436,000 CFA francs. The provision of a set of infrastructures to meet specific needs that many people can afford to pay for, after years of working hours, is not intended to break family ties but to take care of a set of people who need special attention, in establishments where visits are permitted. Housing in a retirement home should rather be considered as a life project. The words used to concretely specify what it is are themselves very significant: rest home, hospital retirement home, retirement home or residences for independent elderly people. A variety of service offerings that meet a set of specific needs. And if these services exist, it is because there is a demand, particularly from those who no longer work, and who have given themselves, during their working lives, the means to settle there for a limited period or not. These are establishments reserved for those who have voluntarily or not made the choice to settle into places which always require one or more expertise which has a cost, because ultimately it is a question of contributing to providing well-being to people who choose to settle there and above all, who can afford it. These are not places where you abandon a parent. To be able to be there, you must already give yourself the means to afford a service which has a cost; something that not everyone has.
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A paid service is always implemented on the basis of an observation which itself includes specific needs. Whether we are in Africa or elsewhere, an elderly person always needs special attention and above all an appropriate living environment that they are called upon to build during their active period thanks in particular to contributions for those who can afford it, a retirement pension or the construction of a house which is also a retirement home with the only difference that this house is not at the service of those who are in the greatest needs, and even of the most deprived like the retirement house“la référence” in Cameroon, located in the capital of the Littoral region and which provides a limited and free service to those who have no one to take care of them, and a paid service which requires a monthly effort of around 80,000 CFA francs per month, for those who have means or loved ones who have the means to pay for their stay in this establishment. It is one initiative among many others to encourage because accepting such amount in establishments where the needs are enormous, is a special way of showing that we are truly concerned about well-being of others in a society where the challenge of relieving the pain of all people in need, necessarily involves satisfying a privileged minority.
Even if you have built a house, it is not this house that will feed you, take care of you, clothe you, and pay your bills. It's the same thing in a retirement home. There is a set of paid services which correspond to a set of specific needs or not. And it’s always expensive because you have to give residents the best possible services. This is the reason why there are public and private initiatives to care for poor elderly people; that is to say, those who are completely unable to take care of themselves with the weight of age. Those who need special attention but cannot afford it. It is very simplistic to say that putting a person in a retirement home is getting rid of the person. A child may not always have the time that an elder care expert have.
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