KOCHI: By 2060, 40% of Kerala’s population will be over 60, according to current projections. Simply put, a staggering 1.3 crore out of the state’s 3.46 crore population will need elderly care within the next 37 years.
It is no wonder that care homes of various forms and sizes — healthy ageing facilities, assisted living places, nursing homes, and even dementia care homes — are mushrooming in Kerala. The rising number of elderly care homes is also aided by the fact that no other alternatives, such as home care services, are coming up in the near future. But lack of proper regulations and uniform standards in these institutions poses a big risk, as many who jump on the bandwagon may fold up in coming years due to stiff operating costs and absence of proper governing structure, warn industry officials.
“After 10 years, there will not be people even to replace your cooking gas cylinders. That’s the kind of situation we are faced with,” says Jiji Philip, secretary of the newly-formed Senior Living Association of Kerala (SLAK), on the rising demand for care homes. “Lack of proper regulations or uniform standards is indeed a concern,” agrees Philip, who is the CEO of Kottayam-based Travancore Foundation, an assisted living facility for those aged 70 and above with centres at Kottayam, Kolencherry, and Ernakulam, which is the oldest care home in the state having established its centre in 2009.
Though there are no specific numbers available, industry officials said there are 893 care homes run by the government and another 400 in the private sector, which are mostly charitable in nature, of which many provide free service or run on donations.
Babu Joseph, president of SLAK and chairman of Bless Retirement Homes, Aluva, reckons there could be only about 10 retirement and assisted living facilities in Kerala that are in the premium segment, though many small and fringe units have come up in several places across the state. “It’s just over a decade since Kerala has seen the emergence of assisted living and retirement homes in the premium segment. Till then, what we have been witnessing was the dumping of the aged and sick people in the old-age homes run by the government and the charitable organisations,” Joseph said.
Bless Retirement Homes, which was incorporated in 2011 as an active retirement home for people aged above 55, is expanding into its third phase after its facility for 130 people has been sold off. While Bless operates on a Rs 55 lakh deposit (for one bed), of which 80% is refundable to the legal heir after the death of the inmate, Travancore Foundation runs on monthly fees of Rs 50,000–Rs 1 lakh per person, depending on the services provided.
Though small and marginal players are entering the business sensing the potential, they may find the going tough due to various reasons, and that would not be a good sign for this emerging industry, according to Joseph.
How to accommodate the large number of elderly people is a big challenge for the government too. It’s not that the state government is not aware of the impending situation. In the recent budget, Finance Minister K N Balagopal points out that Kerala may become the state with the highest dependency population as demographers estimate the annual births to drop to 3.6 lakh by 2031.
He said according to 2021 estimates, 16.50% of the population was over 60 years of age. “Steps will be taken to scientifically study this unique situation and enable policy formulation foreseeing the future,” said Balagopal in the budget speech.
Joseph said the biggest challenge he has faced is removing the stigma attached to this industry. “Though many were ready to join us, pressure from the in-laws and the religious leaders, including the church priests, came out against the practice of sending parents to care homes. Now, the stigma factor is slowly being erased,” he says.
When Kochouseph Chittilappilly, the founder of V-Guard Industries, accepted the first membership card for a unique programme that allows people to pre-secure the last stages of their lives, it evoked a sense of bewilderment among the people.
“How can a person of his stature be spending his sunset years in a care home?” asked one on social media. Talking to TNIE recently, Chittalappilly responded: “If anyone tells you that age is just a number, they are fooling you. Old age is a reality, and we need to prepare for it,” he said, adding that he took the ‘Vayogen’ membership card, issued by Kochi-based Signature AgedCare, to create awareness on the issue. “Besides, the card is transferrable,” he points out.
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