‘Proud’ islanders less likely to ask for help with problems
GUERNSEY people are less likely than those in other countries to turn to others for help if they have problems, a new report has shown.
But this is most likely due to pride and traditional values, Age Concern chairman David Inglis has said.
He was not surprised by the report’s findings and said that the attitude of many older people is that there are certain things they would not talk to others about.
‘If you take other countries like Italy, Spain and France they are very family orientated,’ he said.
The 2022 Better Life Indicators report provides an overall impression of the quality of life in the island when compared to more than 30 other jurisdictions, including the USA.
One section of the index looks at community and draws on the Guernsey and Alderney Wellbeing Survey from 2019.
This covered 2,600 people, of which 86% said they felt they had others they could rely on when they had problems.
However, this is lower than many member countries of the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, and below the average, which is roughly a couple of percentage points higher.
Iceland, Slovenia and Finland have the best social networks, with Mexico, Colombia and Turkey having the worst. Guernsey was at the lower end of the table.
But it was two spaces higher than the UK and four places higher than Ireland.
Age Concern provides gatherings for about 180 people a week in different parts of the island and Mr Inglis said it was clear that there were a lot of people who did not have much family contact.
‘There’s a lot of pride involved,’ he said.
‘The whole idea of our meetings is to talk and understand if anyone has any issues.’
He said there was still something of a Victorian attitude among some people. ‘But the whole cycle of connecting with your family is changing, but it’s a very slow change.
‘There’s a lot of tradition there.’
