‘A family spends ₹4k a month on average to look after elderly’
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:15.06.2019
A family in the country spends, on an average, ₹4,125 a month to look after its elderly members, says a report released by HelpAge India. Volunteers interviewed 2,090 people in the 30-50 age group for the survey. Half of them seemed to express their anger and frustration by writing down their feelings.
The report on the ‘role of family in caregiving’ was released on Friday, the eve of UN-recognized ‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day’. The 20-city report focuses on the sandwich generation which had been shown to be the primary abuser in past surveys by HelpAge, an organization working with and for the elderly for the past 38 years.
An encouraging sign though is that grandchildren are increasingly sharing the burden of taking care of the elderly – 41% in various day-today activities of the elderly. Around 80% of caregivers felt that no policy or measures were adopted by their employers to help ease the burden of caregiving, regarding elderly at home. While 35% of caregivers ‘never’ felt happy looking after the elderly, around 50% of the elderly had no monthly income and were therefore dependent on their carers.
“It is imperative to understand the challenges of elder care. We believe ‘My Parent is My Responsibility’, and that the best care for elders should be at home,” says Mathew Cherian, CEO, HelpAge India.
The percentage of women (primarily daughters-in-law and daughters) looking after the daily activities of elders at home is far more than that of their male counterparts — around 70% of daughters-inlaw provided help to elders with shopping, preparing meals, housekeeping, washing clothes, transport, reminding them to take their medication against 51% for sons.
The elders though looked towards their sons more for monetary help (57%). The report was released at the India International Centre. Help-Age also launched its nationwide Emergency Elder Helpline App ‘HelpAge SOS’ with the aim to provide help at a click of a button. The ‘Save Our Seniors’ app seeks to provide emergency services and information critical for the Indian elders. The app serves as a one-stop security measure for elders nationally, connecting them to the HelpAge Local Helplines across India. The SOS call made through the App will be directly answered by the HelpAge helpline staff/ counsellor. In case of emergencies, it connects them with the local police, hospital or old age homes.
The 20-city report focuses on the sandwich generation which had been shown to be the primary abuser in past surveys by HelpAge
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:15.06.2019
A family in the country spends, on an average, ₹4,125 a month to look after its elderly members, says a report released by HelpAge India. Volunteers interviewed 2,090 people in the 30-50 age group for the survey. Half of them seemed to express their anger and frustration by writing down their feelings.
The report on the ‘role of family in caregiving’ was released on Friday, the eve of UN-recognized ‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day’. The 20-city report focuses on the sandwich generation which had been shown to be the primary abuser in past surveys by HelpAge, an organization working with and for the elderly for the past 38 years.
An encouraging sign though is that grandchildren are increasingly sharing the burden of taking care of the elderly – 41% in various day-today activities of the elderly. Around 80% of caregivers felt that no policy or measures were adopted by their employers to help ease the burden of caregiving, regarding elderly at home. While 35% of caregivers ‘never’ felt happy looking after the elderly, around 50% of the elderly had no monthly income and were therefore dependent on their carers.
“It is imperative to understand the challenges of elder care. We believe ‘My Parent is My Responsibility’, and that the best care for elders should be at home,” says Mathew Cherian, CEO, HelpAge India.
The percentage of women (primarily daughters-in-law and daughters) looking after the daily activities of elders at home is far more than that of their male counterparts — around 70% of daughters-inlaw provided help to elders with shopping, preparing meals, housekeeping, washing clothes, transport, reminding them to take their medication against 51% for sons.
The elders though looked towards their sons more for monetary help (57%). The report was released at the India International Centre. Help-Age also launched its nationwide Emergency Elder Helpline App ‘HelpAge SOS’ with the aim to provide help at a click of a button. The ‘Save Our Seniors’ app seeks to provide emergency services and information critical for the Indian elders. The app serves as a one-stop security measure for elders nationally, connecting them to the HelpAge Local Helplines across India. The SOS call made through the App will be directly answered by the HelpAge helpline staff/ counsellor. In case of emergencies, it connects them with the local police, hospital or old age homes.
The 20-city report focuses on the sandwich generation which had been shown to be the primary abuser in past surveys by HelpAge
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