BENGALURU:By 2020, 20 per cent of India’s population will consist of senior citizens ranging from 60 to 90 years of age. A seminar titled ‘Trends and challenges in elder care in Bengaluru’ recently held in the city, disseminated knowledge about the issues that arise in the wake of growing senior population.
One of the main challenges according to those working in the elder care industry is- stigma present in traditional Indian homes. They observe resistance to accept the need for senior housing and care, in the absence of family fall-back options.
Adarsh Narahari, managing director of Bengaluru-based Mantri Primus (retirement community) says,”There are over 40 lakh people above 60 years in Bengaluru itself. We observe the stigma is more among the youngsters, that is middle-aged people. In fact, the seniors are more than willing to pack-up and move to these homes as the quality of life is better. They don’t have domestic duties to attend to, they have like-minded people and activities of interest they can pursue.”
Srikumar, CEO of CovaiCare which is also a retirement community, says,” Level of awareness on elder care homes and types of care available is low in cities, to begin with. Children think their neighbours and other members of the society will look down upon them, if their parents are in such homes. They don’t understand that the difference between an old age home and such communities, is that senior citizens come here by choice and are not abandoned.”
“The stigma works both ways. By and large, the Indian parent is very protective of their child. Even if they are being ill-treated, they will not tell an outsider about it. The social environment is such. They will not opt for a home even though it has a better lifestyle. Things are slowly changing now and we host seminars every four months to spread awareness,” Srikumar adds.
These communities are extensions of real estate and not just a fancy word for an old age home, argue professionals in the elder care industry. Srikumar points out that there are different kinds of care required according to the customer’s needs and it is not one size fits all.