HelpAge India -In service of the elderly
Rational for Elderly care in India
India ranks among the top 5 nations in the sixty-plus and in the eighty-plus age group demographics in the world. Also, life expectancy in India has gone up by eighteen years in the last few decades.
This has created an ageing population, with a consequent uptrend in non-communicable diseases such as cardiac ailments, diabetes, hypertension, etc.
What adds to the above health burden is the pressure on public healthcare systems, low spread of health insurance, insufficient number of old-age homes, etc.
The worry is that this ageing concern has been largely neglected by governments, by organizations, by individuals and even by relatives of elderly folks.
According to the 2011 Census, over forty-seven percent of the elderly in rural areas and twenty per cent in urban zones continue to work in spite of old age. So what needs to be done in order to make an incremental improvement in the quality of life of the elderly is the moot question.
HelpAge India: A friend in need is a friend indeed.
HelpAge being a charitable organization is a crusader of sorts in spreading the message of elderly care.
They have been fairly successful in making the society aware of the need for creating a supportive ecosystem for the elderly.
HelpAge India as a non-profit organization has been an advocate, for securing the rights of the elderly such as Universal Pension, quality healthcare, action against elder abuse and many more at a national, state and local level with Central and State governments.
They have implemented several senior-friendly policies & believe in building a synergetic relationship with Senior Citizens Associations.
Joy of giving – Our Motto
HelpAge India being a leading charitable organization has been involved, in the field of old-age care for the past 40 years. HelpAge collaborates with other social work organizations& runs training programs related to elderly care management in various parts of the country.
The programs so conducted drives home the motto “Joy of giving” as they say giving only enriches the soul. Since one attains more joy by giving so one should put a considerable amount of thought into the happiness that one derives by giving to others.
Welfare & Development Programs
HelpAge India offers services under various categories that are specific to elderly care which is discussed below:
Mobile Health Care:
HelpAge India operates one of the largest mobile healthcare programs, through its Mobile Healthcare Units covering many parts of the country. The mobile healthcare units provide free healthcare services to destitute elders and serves care for old people, it enables elders to become self-reliant and independent through the creation of Elder-Self-Help Groups.
Medical care
HelpAge India provides health care services as it conducts cataract surgeries & other corrective medical procedures to maintain good health.
Cataract Surgeries
Cataract is one of the prime causes of blindness in India. 12.5 million people are blind & cannot afford treatment. HelpAge made possible 35,000 plus cataract eye surgeries in 15 states.
Reputed and specialist eye hospitals and organizations provide eye care surgeries with HelpAge India’s support.
Physiocare
Old age is prone to ailments like osteoporosis etc ,therefore musculoskeletal diseases such as back pain, arthritis are common in elderly people.
The above health concerns are treated by providing medical care through physiotherapy centers, mobile services, and visits to residents of homes for the aged and home visits made by a qualified physiotherapist.
HelpAge provides more than 1.48 lakh physiotherapy treatments to elders in 15 states.
Cancer Care:
Cancer in recent times is becoming increasingly common& the treatment for it in our country costs a great deal of money, so much so that elders are not covered by any form of medical insurance.
Therefore providing holistic healthcare services for needy elderly cancer patients has been the biggest challenge .HelpAge India provides palliative care to terminal-stage cancer patients in association with a number of credible and competent cancer hospitals and organizations. These partners also conduct cancer awareness and cancer detection camps. Over 99,000 cancer treatments have been supported since 1998.
Helpline for Senior Support
Since elderly people usually do not travel much so they need doorstep & timely support that they can rely on easily & this is kind of a requirement for the elderly is what caused HelpAge India to come up with its Support-a-Gran program which runs Elder Helplines pan India.
Empowering Elder Lives-AdvantAge Program
The AdvantAgeProgram empowers senior citizens in living an active and healthy life by offering discount cards i.e. :AdvantAge Card & the AdvantAge Active Ageing Group.
The AdvantAge Card - offers concessions from Retail partners on various products, services and facilities ranging from health and wellness to holiday homes. It helps the card holder to extend the limit of one’s household budget and is beneficial to those elders living on limited or fixed incomes.
While AdvantAge Active Ageing Groups –ensures that senior citizens remain active & healthy during their later years. It provides them with various wellness & healthcare services like physiotherapy service homoeopathic services, counselling services in areas such as financial, legal & medical etc.
Disaster Management:
Many parts of India are predisposed to natural calamities and more than anyone it’s the elders who suffer a lot during times of emergencies. For HelpAge India it is a first, as it pioneered the practice of disaster intervention programs as early as 1980.
Today, HelpAge India’s disaster response model is well geared to make a fast response in reaching out not only to the elderly but also to the community at large, providing relief with food, clothing and shelter.
Livelihood Support
HelpAge brings together elders through the formation of Elder-Self-Help-Groups (ESHGs) that are modeled on sustainable methods of income generation.
These ESHGs are then amalgamated into forward-grade community institutions so that they gain additional robustness.
This model of HelpAge India has been adopted by the Ministry of Rural Development. HelpAge supports 7,415 groups with 95,584 Elderly across 16 states in India, helping elders regain their dignity.
HelpAge has toll free Elder Helpline (1800-180-1253) through support is being provided round the clock.
Lastly, all that can be said is that being a large & diverse nation on the path of development, India has a lot to do in order to satisfy the needs of an ageing population against the backdrop of a diminishing level of disposable income.
