Thane: Aaji Care Sevak Foundation Trains Youth As Geriatric Caregivers To Address Growing Needs Of Elderly Population

Mumbai: With increasing number of senior citizens in the country, a Thane-based organisation is working towards increasing geriatric care givers while also providing ample employment opportunity to the needy youth. Aaji Care Sevak Foundation, which works for the betterment of senior citizens, has been preparing geriatric care givers to look after the increasing number of senior citizens while also ensuring placement for the trained youth.

As the country keeps getting older with increasing number of elderly people, organisations working for the betterment of senior citizens believe that by 2050, the demographic change will result into one out of four people in the country being senior citizens with the total population of 378 million. While 22 to 26% of the senior citizens live alone and around 82% face various health issues with mobility issues, the need for geriatric care givers is also increasing.

Geriatrics refers to medical care for the unique health needs of elderly people. To provide quality care to the elderly, which does not limit to only giving them medicines but also giving them emotional support by understanding their psychology and feelings, geriatric care is altogether a different field of medicine.

While nursing care is turning costly with every passing day, Thane-based Aaji Care Sevak Foundation has been working to train youth for geriatric care. To turn the youth into good geriatric care giver, the organisation trains marginalized youth and young widows until the age of 35. While the minimum qualification for enrolling for the training includes only Class 8 pass to even facilitate school dropouts, the person should be able to read and write so as to read medicines before providing them to the senior citizens.

Prakash Borgaonkar, chief executive officer of Aaji Care Sevak Foundation, said, “While the population of senior citizens has been increasing from 1980s, India has just recently realised the need of more geriatric care givers. At international level, there are being policies made specially for senior citizens, it is universally accepted that we need specially trained people to look after the elderly. We not only train youth for geriatrics but also sensitise them so that they do the work with empathy and look after the patients like their own parents.”

The 45-day long training includes knowledge of anatomy, physiology and psychology of the elderly, basic care giving, providing medicines and insulin, checking blood pressure as well as providing CPR in emergency situations. With notable funding from corporates under corporate social responsibility, Aaji Care Sevak Foundation has trained over 2,000 youth for geriatric care including 125 people in the last nine months.

The initiative not only includes training the youth but also provides 100% placement to the trained personnel. After 45-days of theory and practicals, the under-training youth are given on-job training at homes and hospitals and are finally provided placement to look after elderly people who require special geriatric care. The initiative helps the elderly by providing them with special care giver, the youth with employment and their families with an in-house geriatric care giver.

“We are trying to support both the generation with the most important thing they require at their respective ages. The elderly get looked after by trained professionals and the youth gets employment even after lack of higher education. This will also help in restoring the inter-generational bond between the youth and elderly who have stark contrast in their life,” added Borgaonkar.