OLD AGE HOMES FOR THE ELDERLY

Team Members: Harsh Khatri, Shyam Rajgarhia, Chayan Dhall, Rishabh Bhandari, Kripa Grover, Tanya Aggarwal, Simran Mattu, Radhika Ahuja

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The world will have more people who live to see their 80s or 90s than ever before.

The past century has seen remarkable improvements in life expectancy.

Soon, the world will have more older people than children.

The world population is rapidly ageing.

Low- and middle-income countries will experience the most rapid and dramatic demographic change.

Source :WHO 2010

Changing world Scenario

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Ageing: The Indian Scenario…

India is one of the few countries in the world where sex ratio of aged is in favor of males.

Population above 60 years- 10% suffer from impaired

physical mobility. 10% Hospitalized at given

point of time.Age more than 70 years- More than 50% suffer form 1

or more chronic conditions like CHD, Cancer and HT .

Problems faced by Elderly

Caregivers’ perspectives on elder care

demanding behaviors of older people selfishness and self centeredness rigid and opinionated authoritarian nature nagging and criticizing interfering being jealous and impatient

Experience of abuse and neglect

An elder is physically abused when she is not attended by her caregivers who are in most cases family members. They need timely care (a) when they experience a simple head ache or

back ache and cold (b) if family members or caregivers are not taking

the elderly to doctor when sick (c) when elderly are not served meals (d) do not help elderly with personal chores in

spite of the elderly assisting in the family chores

Old Age People in Joint FamilyAdvantages

• The joint family system has been prevalent in India since ancient times and has always given a special place to the elder generation.

• The elderly are not only revered and well taken care of, but also enjoy and amuse themselves in the company of their counterparts. The others in the family also benefit from their presence.

• Even today, elder people in joint families live convenient lives due to availability of care and company.

Disadvantages

• In a fast pacing world, joint families prove difficult in formation.

• They are decreasing by the day, which is why, many veterans who traditionally lived in joint families(but now live in nuclear homes) are compelled to shift to old age homes.

Old Age People in Nuclear FamilyAdvantages Disadvantages

• The primary reason for the formation of nuclear families is job opportunities available in the city.

• Nuclear families can prove useful to veterans. Moreover veterans can be useful to such households.

• With both working parents, children derive guidance from their grandparents.

• Grandparents too, if living in cities, find company their age.

• Full time care has to be ensured for elders which can prove to be expensive.

• The grandchildren and grandparents may have a generation gap in the case of which, both parties end up lonely.

• People in nuclear families are not able to devote due to time to their elderly, even if they pay for their expenses.

• The emotional support is not provided and may cause relation gaps to widen.

HOW TO ACHIEVE OPTIMUM ELDERLY CARE?

• Active advocacy at various levels of planning.

• Need for reorganization of the facilities and approach.

• Efforts need to be made to revive cultural values and reinforce the traditional practice of interdependence among generations.

• Surveillance of the on-going programmes and evaluation of their effectiveness.

Solutions for the Elderly• Increasing awareness among physicians,

mental health professionals, home health care workers and others who provide services to older adults and family members can help break patterns of abuse or neglect, and both the person experiencing the abuse and the abuser can receive needed help.

Increasing

Awareness

• Education is the cornerstone of preventing elder abuse. As most cases of abuse occur in the home by family members or caregivers, there needs to be a concerted effort to educate the public about the special needs and problems of older adults and the risk factors for abuse.

Education& Media

• Respite care — having someone else care for the elder, even for a few hours each week is essential to reducing caregiver stress, a major contributing factor in elder abuse. Respite care is especially important for caregivers of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease or of older people who are severely disabled. Area Agencies on Aging are a local resource for services that might help family caregivers find respite and in-home help with difficult care tasks, such as bathing, dressing and cooking.

Respite Care

• Counselling for behavioural or personal problems in the family or for the individual with mental health and/or substance abuse problems can play a significant role in helping people change lifelong patterns of behaviour or find solutions to problems emerging from current stresses. If there is a substance abuse problem in the family, treatment is the first step in preventing violence against the older family member.

Counselling

• Social contact and support can be a boon to older persons and to family members and caregivers as well. Having other people to talk to is an important part of relieving tensions. Many times, families in similar circumstances can band together to share solutions and provide informal respite for each other. In addition, when there is a larger social circle, abuse is less likely to go unnoticed. Isolation of elders increases the probability of abuse, and it may even be a sign that abuse is occurring. Sometimes abusers will threaten to keep people away from the older person.

Social Contact and

Support

Advantages of Old Age Homes Old age homes are meant for senior citizens who are

unable to stay with their families or are destitute. These old age homes have special medical facilities for

senior citizens such as mobile health care systems, ambulances, nurses and provision of well-balanced meals. So they can live a healthy life.

Good services and good behavior of the staff, food being palatable and wholesome are the main advantage of old age homes.

Apart from food, shelter and medical amenities, old age homes also provide yoga classes to senior citizens.

Old age homes also provide access to telephones and other forms of communication so that residents may keep in touch with their loved ones.

The entertainment and library facilities are also available for the sole purpose of the senior citizens.

Disadvantages of Old Age HomesSome elders are not taken care of properly.Some have to share rooms with others, and sometimes

they don’t get along.Generally children send their parents to old age home to

stay away from them. It’s not a good example for a country like India where old people are considered a lucky charm.

Sometimes there is lack of facilities at these old age homes as well as lack of caretakers also. These old persons are left to themselves and there is no body that can take care of them at this age.

Their management is profit driven. Patient care is low on their priority's. Employees are poorly trained. badly paid, and not usually treated well.

Thank You