Tuesday 25 June 2013

An initiative towards prevention of crime against elderly in Mumbai


I am glad to know that the police department in Mumbai from Dahisar (E) to Goregaon (E) belt have taken up the security of elderly as a serious issue and have thus started collecting information about senior citizens along with their domestic help, driver and other service providers who visit their home regularly (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-25/mumbai/40184913_1_dahisar-police-campaign-senior-citizens).

If executed effectively this exercise is going to be a valuable initiative towards controlling crime against elderly and thereby promoting their well-being. For its successful implementation, police department alone won't be able to achieve much success, until and unless the elderly and their family are fully aware of such exercise and are ready to take proactive measures from their end.  

Monday 24 June 2013

Age-Friendly City


Great to know about a positive initiative taken by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu for making Hyderabad an Age-Friendly City (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130619/news-current-affairs/article/slew-measures-senior-citizens-being-planned-hyderabad). I strongly wish and hope that other cities in India should also work towards achieving this goal and thereby improve the quality of life and promote the well-being of all senior citizens in India. 


Thursday 20 June 2013

Robots as Caregivers


Caregiving is an essential requirement of many elderly, due to the health related challenges faced by them in old age. In most of the cases, the caregivers are the immediate family members of the elderly. In the fast few years, due to increase in population ageing, cost of living and migration of younger generation to big cities and other countries, a shortage of caregivers is being observed in many parts of the world.

To tackle the issue of shortage of caregivers especially in senior citizens’ home, Japan is developing some robots to help the elderly in their daily tasks such as moving between rooms in care centers, assisting with their toilet needs and tracking those prone to wandering off. The Japanese government has allocated ¥2.39 billion for the 2013 budget to assist the development of such robots and it aims to achieve a situation where every senior citizens’ home, or one in every three or four facilities, will have at least one such robot. The government will also set safety standards for nursing care robots to give manufacturers a clear idea of the levels their products will be required to achieve. Further details about this is available on: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/06/19/national/robot-niche-expands-in-senior-care/#.UcKIAOdgeGM

Although it is an innovative and useful solution from Japanese government to cope with the shortage of caregivers in their country, however, the robots can never replace the human warmth, care and love, which are required for a better quality of life among elderly, especially among those who are ill and are residing in old age homes. In addition to this, use of robots may raise some moral and ethical issues related to well-being of elderly in some other cultures and may also dissuade some economically well young people, from taking care of their elderly family members by gifting them one such robot for their care. At a broader level, like any other technology, there is always a chance of it being misused.

Point to discuss: In your view what are the pros and cons of using robots as caregivers?




Tuesday 18 June 2013

A Walk to Healthy Ageing


Since, a long time walking as an exercise has been considered to be playing a major role in physical fitness of both youngsters and senior citizens. Recently, a study done on 385 men aged 55 years and above at Athabasca University in Canada (Published in American Journal of Health Promotion: http://ajhpcontents.org/doi/abs/10.4278/ajhp.120316-QUAN-145) has empirically proved that walking not only keeps elderly men physically active but also enhances their mental health and quality of life.

On a personal note, I feel that both elderly men and women can draw inspiration from this study and should engage in a more active lifestyle.Not only senior citizens, even youngsters and middle aged people who are not much active should learn from it and motivate oneself to walk regularly for a healthy life.

Points to discuss: If you know about any senior citizen who makes effort to keep herself/himself physically active. Please share her/his story.

Saturday 15 June 2013

Elder Abuse an obstacle to Healthy Ageing


Elder abuse is not only hazardous for the physical, social and psychological well-being of senior citizens but is acting as a termite which is going to eat away all our cultural values if not controlled on time. The best way to eradicate it from our society is through inter-generational solidarity i.e. by strengthening our relation with our elders and youngsters in our family and society. Especially family, as most of the cases of elder abuse are reported in families due to inter-generational discords. This is the first step towards making our society generation friendly and free from elder abuse.


The type of elder abuse in family often ranges from verbal to extreme physical and mental torture. Whenever I come across such cases, I ask myself, that are we really living in a civilized culture or are we moving towards a barbarous culture where some people are forcing their fragile parents to lead a life worse than an animal by either locking them in a room, or putting them in a cage or chaining them.  Let’s ask to ourself, are we really progressing? Is the cost of living has gone so high that some people can’t afford to provide things of basic necessities to their parents at home, and so are either abandoning them or are abusing them. It has also been found that sometimes faulty child rearing practices results in abuse of those parents by their children, but such cases are comparatively less and are not an excuse for engagement of children in elder abuse. 

Apart from abuse in family, some senior citizens faces various other types of abuses as well, which may include harassment at the institution (old age homes, care centers) where they stay after leaving their homes or ill-treatment by some people in society, who could be neighbours, landlords and sometimes youngsters in the society. At times severe form of such abuses results in crime against elderly.

Though government has taken a strong step towards prevention of elder abuse by passing the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act in 2007, but still many senior citizens, suffering from elder abuse are not using it due to several reasons, which may include some issues related to its implementation, lack of awareness about this Act among senior citizens and a major reason because of which most of the elder abuse cases are found to be unreported is the decision by the victim to not report such abuses in society as according to them it is going to bring bad names to their family. It is such a pity that often the family members, who indulge in abuse of the elders, are prevented by the same person for the sake of family’s respect at the stake of their own well-being. So, in such cases, even the police department can’t do much as the victim is not willing to lodge complaint.

Apart from the laws and policies passed by government, towards protection of senior citizens from abuse and crime. There is a dire need to sensitize the society towards the evils of elder abuse and also to create awareness among the senior citizens towards the step which could be taken by them to prevent elder abuse, including use of Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act. This work should be taken up on priority basis by civil society organizations, working for senior citizens in association with police departments. In places like Mumbai, police department is really doing a great job by doing home visits for senior citizens, especially for those who stay alone as they are more prone to abuse and crime. 

Let us all work towards removing this problem from our society. So, are you pledging for it?

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Example of Active Ageing

 Felt really excited and amazed to read about Mr. A. M. Naik in Economic Times (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-trends/lts-executive-chairman-am-naik-slogging-to-find-his-successor/articleshow/20497690.cms). He is 71 years old and is actively working as Executive Chairman of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) since 2003. He is a perfect example of active ageing. 

Reading about him makes me feel that sometimes one's responsibilities play an important role in making him/her lead an active life in old age. Have also come across some 60+ people who are leading an active life because they have some responsibilities to be fulfilled.

Point to discuss: Have you ever met such 60+?

Sunday 9 June 2013

Security of Senior Citizens

Feeling secure both physically and psychologically is a must for leading a healthy and active life for senior citizens. However, many instances of elder abuse and crime against elderly have been reported from time to time. 

Today's issue of Times of India (Mumbai edition) talks about the initiative taken by Mumbai Police towards the protection of senior citizens by doing monthly home visits (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cop-out-on-elderly/ileadindiashow/20501211.cms),which is no doubt a great initiative.

I strongly wish that Mumbai police should continue with such task for enhancing the quality of life of elderly and sincerely hope that not only in Mumbai but in other parts of India as well, police department should work towards launching special programmes for the protection of senior citizens. One such initiative in recent time have already been taken by Allahabad police department in the form of making senior citizens aware of their rights related to Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Act (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-15/allahabad/39280887_1_senior-citizens-act-maintenance-and-welfare-elderly-persons).

Apart from police department, I strongly feel that family and society have a major role to play in the protection of senior citizens. Hence, we all need to work together for this cause.

Points to Ponder: How secure is our senior citizens?

Thursday 6 June 2013

Review of Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS)




Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) is the first ever scheme, aiming at providing financial security to elderly belonging to Below Poverty Line family and thus contributing towards improvement of their quality of life. 

My latest article published in One India One People Foundation Magazine (June issue) gives an overview of this scheme in India. Please feel free to read, give your comments and share the article.

Monday 3 June 2013

Video games and Healthy Ageing



Physical and Psychological fitness is a must for maintenance of healthy ageing. There are various activities which can keep senior citizens physically and mentally fit. One such activity is playing video games which is often associated with children and teenagers. However, a recent article published by Chicago Tribute (http://trib.in/1aTm8i3it), emphasizes that according to some researchers, playing of video games by senior citizens not only promotes socializing and physical activities among them but also keeps their mind active and prevents depression. It is an interesting finding by researchers which may play an important role in keeping senior citizens active and positive and thereby work towards promotion of their well-being .

Points to Ponder: Can video games really keep senior citizens mentally and physically fit ?