On International Day of Elder Persons, GKNM Hospital brought together people in the field of geriatric care.
Dr. P. C. Raju, (of Parivu a Senior Citizen’s society), Dr. Alka Ganesh (HOD Medicine and Geriatric Consultant at GKNM Hospital), Dr. Rahul Padmanabhan (Clinical Gerontologist and Wellness Consultant) and R. Anitha, (Help Age India) drew attention to the huge lacuna in geriatric care in India and how so much more had to be done.
Ms. Anitha spoke of what HelpAge India did to improve the quality of life of the elderly, especially the economically backward. “Of the 100 million elderly people in the country, 55 million go to bed hungry, 30 million live alone and 12 million are blind and cannot afford treatment. But HelpAge India provides Medical assistance to nearly 1.7 million old people in 840 locations across the country,” she said. They have tied up with hospitals to restore vision to the elderly (In Coimbatore it has tied up with Sankara and Moses Gnanabaranam eye hospitals) and provides support to old age homes (St. Thomas and St. Josephs , Coimbatore).
Dr. Raju spoke of Parivu’s 3,000 odd members who were encouraged to be happy. Dr. Rahul Padmanabhan reiterated that wellness was not just about physical fitness but holistic wellbeing. He said the notion of Community Geriatrics was still a distant one in the country. But that was the best solution where groups of clinics in Panchayats were interlinked. Neighbourhood models provided great support, were cost effective and lessened the burden on the already bursting-at-the-seams hospitals. It was a matter of pride that Coimbatore was seeing the emergence of such support systems. Dr. Alka Ganesh reiterated that the only way forward was to keep patients away from hospitals. Many cases could be dealt with at home. “But we need a dedicated team of doctors to do just that – visit the elderly at home and treat them there. Research has proved that the patients recover faster at home and are less likely to pick up infections, which they would if they came to the hospital. Technology also was proving to be a boon.”
The speakers agreed that there was the cost factor. But that would come down automatically if more systems were put in place to address this huge demographic.