The National Senior Citizens Centre in collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education has trained 28 geriatric caregivers in social care skills.

The NSCC Director-General, Emem Omokaro, speaking at the training on Wednesday in Abuja, said the trainees were nominees from the public and private health sectors in Nigeria.

The training was tagged “Inaugural training programme for quality assurance assessors certification in geriatric social care skills.”

Ms Omokaro stated that the participants marked the first batch to be trained and certified as quality assurance assessors in geriatric caregiving in Nigeria.

She said that the trainees ranged from consultant family physicians, heads of geriatrics units in states, health professors, and owners of care homes, among others.

She said, “They are to be trained as quality assurance assessors who speak with competency, such as attitudes. We are developing a care quality system in the country by establishing standards and quality with partners.”

“This is because our older persons deserve it, and the caregivers deserve the dignity to be recognised and formalised into the workforce. Nigeria deserves to have a geriatric industry, which will help grow her economy by also providing employment opportunities,” she said.

According to the D-G, caring for older people is a skill, hence the importance of training those in the geriatric, educational, and health sectors at large.

“It is a journey of a thousand miles, but we have progressively taken steps, and we know the government can’t do it alone, so we are doing our best. What we are promoting is the ‘domiciliary care agency,’ which means we accredit, train, and licence agencies that operate such geriatric services, then certify them so that they can effectively train their workers. The caregivers must know how to do their jobs effectively when attending to older people,” the D-G reiterated.

The NBTC Director of Vocational, Technical, and Skills Development, Suleiman Yusuf, said the training certificate was of international standard and would be acceptable globally.

“The training is demanding, and it is not easy, as it is being supervised by the board, so we need to get it right to deliver what is needed to produce a quality workforce. The benchmark is for them to be occupationally competent, as they are the ones to manage those who will be caregivers to the elderly,” Mr Yusuf said.

Ali Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, said the training and certification marked the beginning of the standardisation of care for the elderly.

The minister, represented by John Ovuoraye, the Ministry’s Head of Gender, Adolescent, School Health, and Elderly Division, John Ovuoraye, opined that Nigeria was lagging behind in the standardisation of the geriatric sector.

“The elderly population in Nigeria is increasing, and we do not want to lose our elderly ones, so we need to build the healthcare system of our dreams. We need to applaud those driven by passion to start this here and ensure it is standardised,” he said.

He charged the participants to make the best use of the training, adding that certification only meant more responsibility.

One of the beneficiaries, Ita Okokon, said that, as a consultant family physician and a gerontology lecturer, he appreciated the training, as it would better equip him in his area of specialisation.

“This training will enhance my practice because most of what we have been taught is practical,” he said.

Mr Okokon, however, urged the federal government to empower the NSCC, adding that it would aid the establishment of centres at the state level.

(NAN)