The Need for a Community Center for the Elderly for Widows Living by Themselves in a Shiraz Area

Based on a total of three years of field research in the Shiraz community of “Aliabad,” this article present findings about how conditions have changed in the last forty years and how these changes have affected the lives of the elderly. The article proposes some possibilities for city, provincial, and central government departments; charity organizations; and NGOs to develop programs to serve the elderly and more fully engage them in meaningful social, religious, and community living. Forty years ago, when this scholar first went to Aliabad, elderly lived with their children. A son and his wife took care of needs of elderly people. Since forty years ago, even in previously rural, out-lying areas, great advances have been made in education, nutrition, transportation, communication, and standards of living. In Aliabad, most people are now able to live in urban-type, modern, well-furnished, nuclear family homes inside of a courtyard. Unfortunately, such advances have also had a negative effect in some cases for the elderly. Although forty years ago, not one Aliabad widow lived by herself, these days at least half of older widows live by themselves. The children marry and move to their own nuclear family homes and are very busy with their own lives and raising, educating, and supporting their children. Often the extra resources and time to also take care of elderly parents are not available. Assistance programs would be especially useful for females; elderly females are often left alone when their husbands die. If community centers could be provided, elderly could stay in their homes and communities and continue their social interaction with people they have known all of their lives, participate in religious and kinship life, and continue to take part in the calendar of Islamic rituals and holy days—so important for their happiness and wellbeing.