In a few decades India will no longer considered a young country warns dementia specialist and clinical psychologist Neha Sinha. As CEO and co-founder, Epoch Elder Care she advocates that we need to invest in skilling urgently, introducing courses and training in geriatric care for the entire healthcare ecosystem
In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years: Abraham Lincoln
In India, around 115 million are senior citizens (60 years and above), and out of those, around 12 million are super senior citizens (80 years and above). In a few decades India will no longer considered as a young country and by 2050 almost one in five will be an elderly, and we all need to prepare for it now.
Ageing is a poorly understood biological process and ageist stereotypes are seen very commonly in our culture. Although, the need for elder care services is increasing but lack of awareness, access and availability makes things seemingly complex. What needs to be understood and advocated for, is that personalised and well thought out interventions can make a meaningful difference in an older person’s life. Such interventions can help by reducing risk factors, improve functioning and make a considerable change in the overall quality of life of an elder.
Gerontology studies the problems of aging from a broader perspective. It is focused on studying the aging process in general- the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of ageing.
Geriatric care management on the other hand, involves taking care of various problems faced by seniors throughout the continuum of care. It involves not only medical issues, but taking care of the elders to improve their quality of life, and maintain their independence, for as long as possible.
It is now well established that specialised care can bring a change in the outcome or experience of ageing. Today, geriatric specialists and workers are few and far between in India, and so are specifically designed specialist courses in elder care.
The prevalence of chronic conditions such as dementia is on the rise. In India alone we have close to 4 million people suffering from dementia. Dementia is a chronic and debilitating neurodegenerative disease. It is characterised by a decline in multiple cognitive abilities that significantly interferes with an individual’s functioning; both physical and mental.
Though dementia is a neurological condition, it is often accompanied by behavioural and psychiatric symptoms (BPSD), which makes it very challenging for caregivers- both informal and professional. Adding to that, the general perception for many still is that dementia is a normal part of ageing resulting in families not seeking professional support. Even healthcare settings, public offices and community setting have minimal awareness about dementia and how debilitating it can be, making it challenging for an elder to continue life as normal.
In India, looking after seniors is largely considered as an individual responsibility and not that of the community as a whole. As the relevance of elder care in India is slowly coming to the fore front- largely attributed to increase in nuclear families, women joining the labour force and life expectancy increasing; customers are now on the look out for more variety of services which fit their needs and situation.
Residential care for the elderly today can be availed through a variety of formats starting from large independent living community projects, standalone elder care homes, assisted living homes focusing on chronic care, conditions like dementia and finally skilled nursing home. There are also a variety of at-home care service providers who are offering all sorts of support systems both for the independent as well as dependent senior. Starting from concierge services, home management, emergency response, social engagement avenues to very specialised services like ICU at home or skilled nursing, there are quite a few options to choose from.
It is important for India to take stock of the current situation and start planning for the inevitable from today. We need to acknowledge that dealing with seniors requires training as much as empathy and compassion. For this, we need to invest in skilling urgently – introducing courses and training in geriatric care for the entire healthcare ecosystem – right from the physicians to nurses, physiotherapists, emergency response coordinators, hospital front desk to care assistants.
Making our environments elder friendly and safe should always be a priority and training our neighbourhood policemen and security guards would be a definite first step. There is a lot of ideation and big picture thinking which happens for the elders of this country, it is time to get our hands dirty and start working on them.
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