Karnataka   

Underlining the need for geriatric care

The need for expert geriatric care has become important with the tradition of children and grandchildren caring for the elderly almost disappearing, Radha S. Murthy, managing trustee of Nightingale's Medical Trust tells K. Satyamurty

She worked for a few years with major hospitals after graduating from St. John's Medical College. She also found early enough that geriatrics, health care for the elderly, was a speciality few hospitals had and few doctors wanted to deal with.

"This is rather glaring when you consider how longevity is increasing and the 81 million Indians above sixty could well be 168 million by 2025,'' says Radha S. Murthy, managing trustee of Nightingale's Medical Trust. The work the trust has been doing for the aged for a decade include helping the police set up helpline for senior citizens.

The need for expert geriatric care has become important now with the tradition of children and grandchildren caring for the elderly almost disappearing in urban India and barely existing even in villages, Dr. Murthy says.

"Many aged people are forced to live alone and fend for themselves and even those who are financially well off feel the pangs of loneliness. To escape loneliness and for security, some take refuge in old age homes which too cannot always provide medical help when badly needed,'' she says.

Ideally, elderly people should live with their family. If the children are working overseas or in a city far away, they need day care centres, where they can interact with others of their generation and engage in something creative, Dr. Murthy says. Nightingale's now has two day care centres, neither operating on a commercial basis. One is for those from the middle-income group and those who are well off, but do not have without their immediate family nearby.

The other, where services are volunteered, is for those from the low-income group. "Many aged people don't get the medical help they need fast enough. There is just nobody to help them get a hospital or doctor's appointment or help them get there. Many illnesses that affect the elderly are not detected early or treated. They may also not be getting the kind of nutrition best suited to their age and physical condition,'' Ms. Murthy says. The Elders' Enrichment Centre run by the trust is attended by 350 elderly men and women. The Government and voluntary agencies do a lot for the physically challenged, but the same type of help is not reaching aged people, she adds.

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