The Irony- It’s An Old Age Home That Offers Care To The Elderly Rather Than Their Own Families

By Author: Kanan
Total Articles: 17
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It takes just a glance at a dining table arrangement in a present-day household to gauge that the figure of the male head of the family has shifted from the traditional oldest to the bread winner. This is not because the elder has become old and feeble; on the contrary, with advanced health care, life expectancy is rising and elders live longer. In keeping with Indian tradition, elders expect to be given the respect they deserve and when denied this simple due, our seniors experience isolation and neglect.

The shifting of the senior from the head of the table to the sidelines of the house and family conversations could be due to the fact that with retirement, the senior’s income gets depleted or stops entirely. This renders him unable to contribute to the running of the household. One should stop and wonder if these elders after earing all their lives now deserve such a fate. Such a situation may get worse as soon, India will be home to the 2ND largest number of aged people in the world. Millions of citizens of more than the age of 60, a majority of who live without getting retirement income; those who do, often ...
... have their pension taken away by some clever family members. Sadly, though the elderly reside in their own house, they find themselves being treated as burden by those who enjoy the benefit of staying in this house for free.

Therefore, old age homes are mushrooming in our country in almost all big metropolitan areas. Here, the senior citizens either forced out of their houses or having left them by choice for peace, self-respect and fellow company, live happily in the company of like-minded people and are given proper care.

Majority of the old age homes are established with the idea of providing accommodation, food and health services to the elderly instead of providing luxury. Those who manage these old age homes y are often short-staffed and unable to afford the required amenities. These institutions therefore deserve every support from generous donors. Following are few ways to offer support to these non profit organisation:

1) Make Donations: The easiest way to offer support is to donate material or money. However, rather than simply giving clothes and blankets, it’s a better idea to get in touch with the staff working there and understand what they’d actually find of assistance and donate that.
2) Support through your line of work: For doctors as well as teachers particularly, this is an extremely good choice to assist with your skills. Free Regular medical checkups and medications are something the aged people always have a need for.
3) Offer personal company: Anxiety and loneliness are everyday realities for people in the senior citizen homes. The aged people here, often abandoned by their families, appreciate people coming and interacting, making them feel loved. All you have got to do is just sit, talk or play games with them, which is enough to bring smile on their faces.

One thing to remember is that the aged people here long for respect more than the materialistic things. Any help offered with that in mind will surely be more valued.