Looking At The Phenomenon Of The Elderly Sebatang Kara At The End Of Life, A Sign That Our Social Life Is Getting Worse

The elderly choose to live alone at the end of their age can be caused by two factors, internal and external. (Unsplash / Andrew Riviera)

JAKARTA Died in loneliness is heartbreaking for the elderly or the elderly. But this has recently happened quite often in society. According to sociologists, this is an alarm for our social life.

An elderly person with the initials CW, 74 years old, was found dead in a swollen state at his house on Jalan Singgalang, Cimanggis District, Depok, West Java, Saturday (13/1/2024).

"The victim lives alone and when witness AZ, who is his brother, will enter the house, there is no answer," said Cimanggis Police Chief Kompol Judika Sinaga when contacted, Sunday (14/1/2024).

A doctor with the initials Z (65) also experienced a similar fate. He was found dead at his home in the Pisangan area, East Ciputat, South Tangerang, on January 11.

East Ciputat Police Chief Kompol Kemas Arifin said the victim's body was found in a rotting state. Arifin explained that the victim lived alone in the house belonging to his brother who was not taken care of. The head of the local RT admitted that the last time he saw the victim was about two months ago and was in depression.

Throughout the past year, there were four cases of silent death that occurred in Jakarta and its surroundings were exposed to the public. And this year, when the first month didn't really end, there were already two similar cases in the near future.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the elderly are someone who has entered the age of 60 years and over. Elderly are the age group in humans who have entered the final stages of their life phase. This group categorized by the elderly will undergo a process called aging process or aging process.

Sociologically, the elderly are a group that is no longer productive and marginalized socially and economically in society. This makes them not have the opportunity or space to socialize with the surrounding environment.

Jakarta State University (UNJ) sociologist Rakhmat Hidayat said the large number of elderly people who died in silence was proof that the state did not have a role to play for them.

"The state, in this case the government, does not yet have a role or is present to be involved in intervening in the elderly group," Rakhmat said, citing Kompas.

The nursing home is often the last choice for elderly people who live alone or are not taken care of by their families, to spend their old age. (MNC)

He assessed that the government does not have a political will or a commitment to place or empower the elderly in order to raise their social and economic benefits.

So, so far, the state has not taken care of that. For example, just, yes, the poor and abandoned children are then cared for by the state. But, the elderly don't," said Rakhmat.

According to Rakhmat, the Taiwanese government's policy of empowering elderly people aged 70 years to 90 years needs to be imitated by the Indonesian government so that the elderly have a better life at their old age.

In addition, the case of the death of an unknown elderly person is also due to the fact that the surrounding community does not care about its existence. Not a few people are indifferent to the elderly who live alone around them.

According to Rakhmat, this could be a problem that continues to occur in the future. Death will increase from the elderly, because apart from the state not being involved, the community also doesn't care. Rakhmat predicted this would be a problem in the future.

Meanwhile, sociological observer and Head of the Department of Sociology Education at the State University of Jakarta (UNJ) Ubedilah Badrun said the trend of death for the elderly was a public event that should immediately become a serious concern for all parties. According to Ubedilah, this is no longer a private matter but a public issue.

Ubedilah said, the phenomenon of death in silence shows a complexity of individual problems as well as social problems that must be taken seriously.

"Sociologically, community ties are a sign of the dangers of our nation's social life that we should break down the cause," Ubedilah explained.

At least two main factors of death in silence still occur, namely internal and external. Internal factors are usually triggered by individuals who are sick and do not want others to know or because of depression.

In addition, this phenomenon can also occur because he does not have the awareness or ability to socialize with other people. Because it cannot be seen that some people feel more comfortable with their loneliness.

Meanwhile, Ubedilah said that external factors could occur due to the pressure of socio-economic life which was so heavy that it made a person experience depression and chose a way of surrender by covering himself from social life. This becomes more dangerous when the surrounding community also lives associally.

Events like this, according to Ubedilah, will continue to repeat itself with people who are individualistic or not friendly, don't care about each other, don't know each other closely. Conditions like this are found in big cities, because people are generally busy with their own lives such as working to meet their needs.

In this case, Ubedilah said that because people view that houses or places to live are only used as beds after a day of providing sustenance in the midst of heavy socio-economic demands.

The number of elderly people is predicted to continue to increase. Data in 2021 shows that 1 in 10 people worldwide are 65 years old. Meanwhile, by 2050, the number is predicted to increase to 1 in 6 people who are 65 years old.

According to the Deputy for Coordination for Social Welfare Improvement of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture Nunung Nuryanto, this condition will have long implications for policies, strategies, and efforts so that all residents aged 65 years are still productive.

According to Nunung, globally, babies born in 2022 are expected to have an average age of up to 71.7 years due to better nutritional support and access to health. This figure is 25 years longer than the birth of the 1950s.