There have been several incidents where senior citizens are left alone as their children work in other cities. In many instances, the children don’t return to care for their parents. The senior citizens find themselves in one of the old age homes in their cities. Statistics show that around 37,000 senior citizens receive assistance through government-funded old age homes. If we consider private homes, the number would be much higher.
The situation of the elderly suffering from life-threatening diseases is worse. They must deal with the anguish of living through the illnesses as they wait to see their children before them. As the children stay in far-off cities, it becomes difficult to visit their parents regularly. Psychologists state that the elderly require love and care. They must have someone to take care of in their twilight years.
The problem grows manifold with those undergoing treatment for terminal diseases. These patients expect to live the rest of their lives with dignity. It is why old age homes are increasing, but they cannot provide expert hospice and palliative care. Dr Abhishek Shukla runs a hospice, geriatric, and palliative centre for the elderly. Dr Shukla says, “The elderly require advanced level care and expect to live heartily. The issue is more with those who are facing treatment for terminal diseases. We require advanced care and treatment across all cities in the country”.
In their old age, senior citizens face deterioration of health. It could be due to their lifestyle, degeneration, psychological issues, changes in metabolism, etc. Whatever the reason, they require constant monitoring to check whether they are hale and hearty. They must undergo regular physical check-ups, geriatric validations, and various body check-ups to ensure they are doing fine.
“The elderly have the same rights to receive advanced medical care. While the health infrastructure is improving, we must also ensure that the elderly are receiving proper care. Those who are terminally ill must receive advanced psychological treatment to help them alleviate their pain. Aastha has a high specialty old age home, geriatric care center and hospice where we cater to all requirements of the elderly,” says the Chief Medical officer of Aastha.
The pandemic has led to accelerated improvement of healthcare infrastructure. More focus must be provided on elderly care too. While we see baby steps being taken in this area, much more needs to be done. We need more such entities like Aastha to provide quality care for the elderly.