Opinion : Elderly in Kashmir, Need to take extra care during pandemic

OPINION - FEATURED ARTICLE

Elderly in Kashmir : Need to take extra care during pandemic

Javaid Ahmad Najar

31st August 2020

Above the age of 60 years is regarded as an elderly or senior citizen every where. UT of J&K has a percentage population of 8.3% above the age of 60 years, which is increasing day by day. We have seen the condition of elderly in Kashmir entirely different from elders of other places. Elders of J&K are not entitled to the benefits either from the govt or from the civil society organizations in a way the elders of other places are. Every welfare state should have special programs for this fragile section of society because most of them remains paralyzed and dependent with respect to their needs in normal situations, which may rise during pandemic because we came to know that corona virus don’t stigmatize the age group of people but mostly senior citizens are becoming its victim and we can see the percentage of deaths by this virus which is most among elderly. 

Nearly 70% of patients, who lost their lives to corona virus in Kashmir, were aged 60 years and above, mostly with co morbid conditions, official data reveals.

We are yet to get geriatric centers at district levels for senior citizens where they would be able to get special treatment for their ailments. Govt. had proposed geriatric centre for GMC Srinagar & GMC Jammu in 2018 but have not taken any step yet. Our elders are living with multiple ailments and most among these are hypertension, diabetics, arthritic problem, UTI, COPD, cardiovascular diseases, cataract vision, immobility etc. Keeping in view all these ailments they need extra care during pandemics. 

We should have at least one geriatric centre in every district where these elders would have been able to get better treatment for their multiple ailments by consulting specialized doctors. Instead of it, they are still used to go here & there almost visiting every hospital and clinic for their satisfactory treatment.

During lockdown, what we need to do for our elders as they live a dependent life. They are dependant for each kind of need say social, psychological, physical and most importantly of economic kind of need. We are in a good condition and in good social status today by their immense hard work for we people yesterday. We are their caretakers today because they were our caretakers yesterday. Here are some tasks to be carried out by caretakers for our esteemed elderly population.

We should avoid to take our elders to the hospitals & clinics for common ailments say headache etc and should prefer to buy medicine from them after consulting doctors on phone. This process will lead our elders safe and protected because visiting hospitals for common disease during pandemic is not a good step as we see that these hospitals are prone to the viruses. But not visiting hospitals is applicable for common diseases which are non covid as well. Now for asymptomatic elders we should not wait for any ones nod but should take them to the hospitals on priority basis.

We should arrange some domestic activities for our elders which can be easy for them to do keeping in view their health condition. Women folk should involve women elders in home chores so that they could feel some engagement and will be able to avoid over thinking while sitting frequently. Men folk of our society should arrange story telling sessions with men elders at homes keeping in view the physical distancing so that they can feel some relaxation during this pandemic.

Young persons should engage our elders in listening and watching stories, brief and authentic news around the world, playing online games, watching dramas and serials by using their smart phones so that our elders could not feel isolation and will be helpful for their psychological health.

The most important contribution towards the welfare of our elders is to provide them some pocket money as per their need. It has been found in elders that their empty pockets leads them to various kinds of anxieties. If their pockets are filled with some kind of amount they need, they feel better and talks to every one frequently and uses to pray for every one especially for their caregivers. If their pockets remain empty, they shows mood swings and uses harsh language against their caregivers and complaints in front of everyone. Therefore providing some money to them will contribute for their happy life which will at the same time mitigate their psychological miseries. The amount which I am talking about is not to fill their needs but to contribute for their happiness. May our elders live a happy life!

#All opinions are authors own.

Author is :

Field Investigator, Elderly Project

Indian Council for Social Sciences Research (ICSSR), New Delhi

ahajavaid786@gmail.com