Eldercare in India: An overview

Courtesy - https://www.yodda.care/

According to a report the ageing population is set to grow to about 330 million individuals by 2050. This means there is an increasing demand for care and resources. Elderly people around the world now prefer ageing at home while remaining active contributors to their communities. New adjustments need to be made to regulation and policy to assure that the ageing Indian population is cared for across all income brackets.?

Elderly people are not a heterogeneous group; they have a variety of diverse needs for health and wellness over what will be decades of varying ageing needs. Numerous senior care formats have emerged over the years including:?

• Independent & assisted living facilities?
• Home-based senior care
• Senior rehabilitation services
• Hospice care??
• Community-based care

While the ageing industry is steadily growing it is lacking in a regulatory framework, licensing, and accreditation to assure high quality of care for all ageing Indians. In addition, more will need to be done to assure the financing of this care through tax incentives, health plan reforms, and social care that assures financing for ageing individuals who cannot afford private health plans or ageing services.?

As this market grows it needs to be well regulated so the elderly are not taken advantage of and so a variety of services are available to help older adults stay active, have more independence, and age healthily.

?According to a study, 43% of elders are fully financially dependent on others (even higher for female elders at 67%) and 18% live alone or with a spouse. The report found that about 45% didn’t know about government resources available to them and one in two suffered from loneliness. Drastic measures need to be taken to ensure stability in their health and wellness through effective community and social support programs.?

For older people to feel secure, they need to know that the social determinants of health are met. The top areas of interest for their well-being, according to a UNFPA & HelpAge International report, were the need to feel:?

• Income Security with access to job opportunities to subsidise pensions.?
• Health in old age with access to medical care, medicines, equipment, and education, without going beyond their limited funds.?
• Enabling and supportive environments that offer them positive opportunities for empowerment in a safe, secure, and accessible community.
• Participation and contribution to communities that show they are valuable and offer them a sense of purpose.?

It is a mammoth task for the Indian government to tackle all of this alone. The sheer scale of the effort needed indicates the need for driving industry partnerships with growing startups in the area of social and community support, healthcare and assisted living, to help them address these issues. These startups will likely fall into three main categories:?

• Ageing in Place Startups – These startups will help older adults learn and utilise all the new technology being developed to help one age in place more effectively.?
• Health Tech – New medical devices can help to monitor health more effectively, medical care can become more comprehensive through digital tracking. Additionally, doctors can follow up with telehealth appointments and virtual monitoring. While this will never replace in-person health care it may help to reduce the burden on the health system.?
• Caregiving – There will need to be more extensive services offered for caregiving from nurses to people supporting daily life skills like cooking, cleaning, washing, and companionship

In addition to challenges of infrastructure and intent in senior care, India is also facing new perils with inflation hitting a record 7.79% in April 2022. According to a Reuters report, in India, meagre state pensions mean only a minority of retirees can afford proper healthcare with nearly 15 million of those aged 60 and above – around 10% of the total – nearly homeless. These are alarming data that reflects poorly on the nation’s attempt to provide a mass chunk of its population a chance to live a healthy, dignified life post retirement.

According to the World Data Lab India’s silver economy spending is expected to increase from $100 billion to $1 trillion by 2030. It’s time for governments, insurance and healthcare providers, and organisations to prepare themselves for this shift and start to lead the way in caring for India’s growing ageing population.?