When Claudette Fleming first started work at Age Concern seven years ago, it was, she says, "me and the telephone". "The Royal Gazette did a story and the phone started ringing," she recalls. "Somebody had a health care issue, someone needed the car fixed. All of a sudden I realised that this thing is all over the place. It was hard to focus.

"How do you address the issues going from everything from finances to health? How do you pull them in and do something productive?"

The 37-year-old executive director of the charity is still trying to answer those questions on an Island she claims lacks a proper "infrastructure" for its 7,000 citizens aged 65 and above.

A myriad of services undoubtedly exist for pensioners; one only has to flick through Government's Directory of Services for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities to see that.

But Ms Fleming says that no single entity has yet pulled all the information together to provide older people and their caregivers with an easy, fast way to get help when it's needed.

There is no machinery that kind of brings all of the pieces in; there's no portal," she says. "It's all there, but it's not connected. We want to be that interconnecting force."

Age Concern is now working to solve that problem and, perhaps even more importantly, discover as much as possible about Bermuda's seniors. It's a vital task since experts predict that by 2030, seniors will make up 22 percent of the Island's population (they currently account for 11 percent).

Next month, Age Concern will, in partnership with Government, launch its STATS (Seniors' Test for Ageing Trends and Services) initiative, a mammoth study aimed at surveying every single pensioner living here. A test group of 1,000 will be interviewed throughout October.

"We are embarking on a very ambitious project that hasn't been undertaken anywhere else in the world," says Ms Fleming.

"The survey is about 200 questions long; it's about a two hour survey. It asks everything from income to where do you eat, what cars do you drive, anything that we could think of."

The hope is to piece together a comprehensive picture of the lives and needs of elderly people to help service providers — both state and private sector — plug any gaps which exist.

"We hope to be able to get the information back to every senior and for those that are interested send them information on services. The second thing is, we want to go back to industry so they can see 'what can we do to increase what we are doing to better meet the needs of seniors' and what can Age Concern do. The third thing is we want to take it back to Government and say: 'here's what seniors have said'."

The mother-of-four believes Bermuda's seniors have been a neglected sector of the population for too long.

She claims the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged only helps those "most vulnerable" seniors who "have to interface with Government or are at risk".

She says: "Everybody has needs. They are just different. Our goal is to see that where it's possible we can facilitate getting people's needs met so that they can have a better quality of life while living in Bermuda."

She is glad that Government is working on legislation to tackle elder abuse, which is thought to have been experienced by some four to six percent of elderly people in Bermuda. Laws are also urgently needed, she says, to ensure that seniors' rest homes adhere to a certain standard and that caregivers are properly qualified.

"In terms of home care, anybody could set up," she says. "There are some very basic requirements that are there for rest homes but it's limited."

Age Concern is about to launch its own seal of approval to give seniors and their families a reassurance of quality when buying products and accessing services.

"It will come with a quality assurance check where we will check with seniors who are using the products and services," says Ms Fleming. "We ran that idea by the service providers. I think it was eight out of ten said: 'we'd welcome it'. Best practice is what we will be promoting."

The former social worker knows that tackling the worldwide problem of an ageing population will require more than a quick fix. "I don't know that people know where to begin," says Ms Fleming. "The problem is it's complex and we kind of don't want to admit that."

Age Concern, which has a staff of five and a $½ million-a-year budget, sees itself as a big part of the solution — as an advocate for old people, a policy advisor for Government and a conduit between seniors and the private sector.

Issues she says Islanders need to collectively consider is the provision of long-term care and whether more assisted-living facilities are needed for those not requiring 24-hour care but unable to live independently. At the moment, she says, there are not enough rest home beds due to a nursing shortage and she describes King Edward VII Memorial Hospital as a "catch-all" because "the hospital can't turn anyone away".

"Something else that's missing is long-term care insurance as a way that long-term care can be paid for. It's only going to work if people start getting it in their 20s and 30s and start paying into it. It's also about educating the working class population about investing in home ownership and all the things that will build a more solid foundation for you when you are an older person."

She says family and friend caregivers also need more support. Age Concern plans to include a feature on its website where users can input all their requirements and get immediate feedback on services will help. "It's going to support the caregiver," says Ms Fleming.

She wants the public to utilise Age Concern as much as possible. "Although we may not be able to deal with it (your problem) directly, it can be helpful for us to know.

"My other call to action is with regard to the STATS programme. It will be volunteer-driven and we still need volunteers. Get in touch and get involved with the lives of seniors. Here is an opportunity to learn how to ask those sensitive questions. We want to open this up to the community."

She adds that many of us will become seniors in Bermuda at some stage. "People are living longer. If we can get people living healthier and happier, it's a much better environment for everyone."