Dubai: Elderly Emiratis need not be confined to their homes any more. They can now go to the gym, get a massage, play with their friends, and interact with people at a specially dedicated day-care centre in Dubai.
Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Tuesday inaugurated the Thuker Social Club in Al Barsha to give elderly Emiratis their own space so they can have fun, exercise, and do rehabilitation exercises during their leisure time.
The two-storey social club is the first of its kind in the UAE. It is being operated by the Community Development Authority (CDA) as part of its programmes for Emiratis in the emirate aged 60 and above.
Thuker (Arabic for ‘We treasure’) will complement CDA’s existing programme for the elderly called Weleef (Arabic for ‘home care’), where caregivers conduct home visits to the elderly who live alone.
“They [Emirati elderly] are the treasure of wealth and knowledge and [represent] the cultural heritage of our people,” Khalid Al Kamda, CDA director-general, told Gulf News.
“This club is for the elderly to have a place to meet, where they have a venue for them to think of ideas, and for us to listen to them and their needs.”
Thukher has seven dedicated social workers. It also has sections for traditional handicrafts, folk games, and a library. It also has a private lounge, a health club, a massage room and a salon.
Mariam Al Hammadi, Director of the Elderly at CDA, said the club features a rehabilitation area to help boost the memory and physical fitness of the elderly. The club also has a mosque and service rooms.
Thuker is a free service open to all elderly Emiratis based in Dubai. So far, 104 elderly Emiratis have registered in the club. Among them is Mohammad Abdul Jaleel Al Bastaki, a retired shop owner.
“I like the centre, especially the health club. It provides us with a lifestyle different from what we used to have before when we would just stay at home,” Al Bastaki, 80, told Gulf News.
For Abdullah Mohammad Ebrahim, 65, who used to work at Rashid Hospital, the club gives him a chance to unwind. “I can spend time with my friends, crack jokes with them and enjoy the afternoon with them. It’s boring at home.”
Al Kamda said Thuker is CDA’s response to the results of the Dubai Social Study 2013-2014 where 13.1 per cent and 2.6 per cent of the respondents said they need a seniors’ club and a day-care centre respectively. The same study said a shelter for the elderly is the least preferred option by Emiratis.
“The shelter is the last thing that they need. They need an environment where they are treated as productive members of the society. We don’t believe in shelters and it doesn’t belong to our culture to isolate the elderly.”
During the event, the Guinness World Records honoured Esmail Al Safar who worked for four months to craft the world’s largest dallah coffee pot at 2.68 metres high.
