Muslim seniors in Scarborough feeling neglected, angry and abused: survey.
North American Muslim Foundation executive director Farooq Khan introduces a research paper Tuesday that addresses the social and emotional needs of Muslim seniors in Scarborough. (Feb. 7, 2012)
Staff photo/MIKE ADLER
Most Muslim seniors who took part in a Scarborough survey said they feel abused, neglected and angry in spite of regular contact with family and friends and visits to a mosque.Researchers from Ryerson University's Chang School of Continuing Education struggled to explain the findings this week, which project manager Valerie Elliot Hyman said showed signs of "emotional isolation," and a feeling of "loneliness in a crowd," in the community.Most of the 203 seniors interviewed by volunteers at the North American Muslim Foundation on Finch Avenue and at four other local mosques last year "are not vulnerable and not actually experiencing social isolation."Four fifths lived with family members and only 17.8 per cent said they lived alone.The survey said 68 per cent had at least six friends and 55 per cent saw those friends at least once a week, while 67 per cent attended a mosque at least once a week and 34 per cent participated in social events at least weekly. Still, the survey report released Tuesday, Feb. 7, suggests most social interaction for seniors "takes place at the mosque and medical centres" - likely because they have little money to pay for activities outside the home - and that this may not give them opportunities "to deal with emotional issues."While 68 per cent of the respondents said they felt appreciated most of the time and 79 per cent felt respected, high percentages said they usually felt neglected (87 per cent), powerless (72), angry (83), or abused by their family or friends (90). Researcher Rufaro Maria Shambare said there has been little study on the difference between emotional and social isolation but speculated it is "not the done thing" for seniors in the community to talk about their sadness or other difficult feelings. Farooq Khan, NAMF's executive director, thanked the researchers and members of the foundation's seniors program for "pioneering work" he hopes will spur governments to create programs and provide resources for Muslim seniors.He said frustration can build up for seniors, who sometimes find it hard to take public transportation, especially in cold weather. "They are isolated at home. All day long they are stuck in the house," said Khan, who added NAMF uses a van to pick up seniors for activities and drop them off."A human is a social creature."Other Scarborough communities also have impressive institutions - the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care comes to mind - for seniors, while for local Muslims "these sort of facilities are completely missing," Khan acknowledged.A majority surveyed for the federally-funded study (61 per cent) were South Asian, and 48 per cent listed their first language as Urdu.Many of the seniors (56.5 per cent) were less than 65 years old and only 10.4 per cent were over 75. The researchers explained that they included persons as young as 45 "because culturally, such persons are estimated to have adult children and grandchildren."Types of social activities most popular with the seniors were "community interaction," exercise and educational programs.The study report calls for further research into loneliness and emotional isolation among Muslim seniors, a forum among Scarborough agencies working with seniors to share information and a continuing role for the NAMF volunteers in research efforts.