Challenges of a greying population

Healthcare has contributed to longevity, but the overall well-being of the elderly has not kept pace

The number of Indians over 70 has been estimated at 52,459.67. Our population increased from 10,490.2 to the present number within a decade. This alarming rise in elderly people who contribute little to the country’s resources needs to be addressed urgently.

Persons in India aged 50+ years number 267,742.71, while there are 39,610.48 thousand persons aged 60+ years. The 65-year-old population numbers 90,719.95 thousand, while persons aged 75+ years number 28,368.23 thousand. The population aged 80+ years numbers 13,284.27, while those aged 90+ years number 1,264.12.

The life expectancy at age 80 is also going up slowly, which is good in one way as it reflects a better lifestyle. It is not so good if the general wellbeing of individuals has not kept pace with their longevity. In a country of a billion or more people, the number of active, healthy working members would be very small because all the people alive after 70 years may not be physically or mentally fit to contribute fully to society. They also quietly diminish the country’s resources.

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Life expectancy in India may have gone up for various reasons. It may be a better quality of food since education has given them awareness of proper nutrition for better health. They can also reach out to better medical facilities, which not only treat sickness but prevent it as well. Their lifestyle is more comfortable with easier access to information, education, and job opportunities.

Luckily, our country has some kind of medical facility for all citizens, rich or poor. But in spite of these reforms, India’s greying population lives in constant insecurity and loneliness. Why? Health reforms and improved educational opportunities have largely benefited the poorer population, which did not have them until now. The richer section always enjoyed these benefits, which have given them and their families enormous advantages in life. Today, it is this sector of rich citizens that is suffering the disadvantages of ageing. They may be rich, highly educated, and have access to the best medical facilities. They drive in the costliest of limousines and live with a retinue of servants in their rich homes.

You will find these citizens, many of them women in widowed states, living alone in the high-rise mansions of India’s capital cities. They may suffer innumerable ailments like high blood pressure, cardiac ailments, or Type 2 diabetes. They have special benefits like the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), which was started in 1954 and provides comprehensive health care facilities for central government officials and pensioners residing in cities.

The rich beneficiaries of these schemes enjoy all dispensary-related services, including domiciliary care. In addition, the beneficiaries of this scheme have the
privilege of being hospitalised each and every time they fall ill.

Some go to assisted living facilities where they rarely mix with strangers who have come to the same “senior homes” with the sad hope of finding some companionship. Only to realise that older people do not want new friends or a change in their lifestyle.

Whether it is a posh senior home or a poor old age home, there is little comfort for these 60, 70, 80, or 90-year-old seniors to make new friends and eat standardised meals, however well planned and prepared. These are the real victims of old age. They are educated, well endowed financially, and have all the comforts of a good life. But what ails them?

Sadly, it is an inability to accept change. They complain because of the speed of technology, with which they cannot cope. “Why can’t I order a gas cylinder personally, as I used to? Why must I link my Aadhar and PAN cards to my bank account? Why must I pay my income tax and my property tax online when I was fine standing in a long line earlier and getting a pink receipt? What happened to all those friendly clerks in offices who listened to your complaints?

My telephone worked fine. What is this WhatsApp that everyone talks about?

I don’t have a computer. Why can’t my family and friends write long letters on a post card like before? Why, why, why... These are the unhappy people of a lost generation who live in the past, refuse to accept the present, and stare sadly at a bleak future while the world whizzes past them. They are mostly women who live alone in elite houses in a dead past. They are the potential victims of age-related diseases. They are also home-alone women, making them easy targets
of crime.

If elderly citizens learned to relate to young people, found an occupation to drive away loneliness, and accepted change gracefully, there would be fewer age-related diseases and a lesser strain on our health services.