Over the last few years, a lot of the patients senior geriatrician V.S. Natarajan has seen were in need of mental health services.
“Financial, health and social problems – these are the issues the elderly have. With many elderly citizens living alone in both villages and cities as their children migrate elsewhere for work, cases of depression and dementia are on the rise,” he said.
To take care of the mental health needs of the elderly, an expansion of the district mental health programme (DMHP) in Tamil Nadu has been planned, under which, psychiatrists in every district will be trained to take care of geriatric needs. Once a week, a special clinic for senior citizens will be held.
“We already have psychiatrists in 25 districts; in four others, psychiatrists are being posted and in the three others, the process has begun. Since we have the infrastructure and the resources and have a geriatric care policy in the State, we decided to link them and meet this essential need,” a senior health official said.
This apart, caregivers will also be trained, said the official. “This is important as caregivers too need to be trained in the needs of the elderly. This area is generally not looked into as most caregivers are family members, but we are planning to focus on this,” he said.
“There has been an increase in longevity thanks to better healthcare, but the aim of the DMHP’s geriatric care services is to improve the quality of life of senior citizens,” said State nodal officer, C. Ramasubramanian. “We are getting our psychiatrists trained by NIMHANS, Bangalore, in geriatric mental health care so they are equipped to take care of the elderly,” he said.
The psychiatrics will in turn train primary health centre doctors, he said.
For the elderly, loneliness, fear of death, health ailments and financial troubles pose the major problems. “Nutrition also needs attention. A lack of adequate nutrition too, could lead to mental health issues,” said Dr. Natarajan.