Help the Aged

HELP THE AGED IS an older persons’ advocacy group with units in Canada and Great Britain. Its mission is to secure and protect the rights of older persons anywhere in the world so that in the future older people will be much more highly valued than they are today. Help the Aged seeks to work with older persons so that their needs can be met in all the ways that are needed for them to live better lives. This means, in Help the Aged's view, that significant changes are needed in society so that the aged live richer lives and their voices are properly heard.

As an advocacy organization, Help the Aged does research into issues affecting older persons. The research seeks to analyze the problems faced by senior citizens and to develop solutions to their problems. Help [Page 479]the Aged conducts campaigns that address the issues basic to older people. It lobbies governments for pensions for the aged, for legislation to combat ageism, for relief from poverty, and for other issues.

To finance its work, Help the Aged conducts fundraising drives. Its financing comes through individual donations of gifts, door-to-door collections, and other sources, including an annual raffle. Financing also comes through corporate partners, student volunteers who collect funds, fundraising by celebrities, and grants from foundations and governments.

To better perform its mission, Help the Aged seeks to inspire and recruit others into the work of helping those who, because of age, are weak, impoverished, or disabled in some way. The organization's overall strategy is to combat the barriers that are placed in the way of older persons. These barriers are attacked as irrational and immoral hindrances to the living of active and fully human lives by the aged.

Help the Aged has identified four major obstacles that hinder the advancement of the aged into a fuller life. The first obstacle is poverty. Consequently, Help the Aged is engaged in a battle with poverty. The second obstacle is isolation. Many older persons have lost family and friends and consequently are left alone in strange circumstances. Reducing isolation and encouraging inclusion are a primary goal for Help the Aged.

Ageism is the third major target for Help the Aged. It is in keeping with the philosophy of Help the Aged that the aged are persons of value, and that a person's value does not diminish with age. The fourth obstacle that Help the Aged is battling is the all-too-common poor-quality healthcare that the aged receive. Often low standards of care are accepted as though they were normal. Help the Aged therefore actively promotes quality care for the aged as well as for people of all ages.

Help the Aged provides a variety of services including Senior Line, which is a telephone advice service. It also provides Senior Link, which is a telephone response service. Through its Senior Mobility program, Help the Aged can place voluntary groups at the doors of older people for transportation needs. Its Handy Van program puts workers into homes to equip them for handicap devices in order to improve home safety. Its Adopt a Granny program supports older persons abroad, and its gardening program provides older people with expert gardening help.

...