Special initiatives for the elderly in COVID-19 times

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 24 (): Kudumbashree, hailed asone of the worlds largest women empowerment and povertyeradication missions, has launched a special initiative forthe well-being of the elderly in Kerala during theCOVID-19lockdownwitha string of confidence-building measures. The thrust of the outreach has been to take care of themental health of the elderly and boost their confidencethrough IEC(Information, Education and Communication)programme. There are chances of co-morbidity and low immunity amongthe elderly people. So, it makes them vulnerable to theepidemic. We could successfully convey the message to around43 lakh people throughthe IECcampaign,saidS Harikishore,Executive Director, Kudumbashree, which functionsas acommunity organisation of Neighborhood Groups (NHGs) of womenin Kerala. The programme, which focuses on the message elderlyshould take extra precaution,is one of the three campaignscatering to the senior citizens. A letter and a video message from the Executive Directorwere distributed to Ayalkoottams(neighbourhoodgroups),apart from SMS and posters through WhatsApp, tocreate a sense of seriousness among the public, he noted. There are three lakh Ayalkoottams in Kerala and around 43lakh people are part of it. Just before lockdown got underway, Kudumbashree sent a discussion note to all neighbourhoodgroups, which they discussed in their meetings,"Harikishore said. "Apart from the message to the elderly, the focus of thenote was to effectively implement Break the Chain campaignand social distancing. So, I can confidently say that we havecovered around 50 per cent of families, he said. In the second round, Kudumbashree targeted two groups:quarantined elders at home and people above 60 years fromdestitute families. Among the 1,50,000 people, who were quarantined at home,around 5,000 elderly people were primary contacts. Since theyare the most vulnerable, as per the directions of the HealthDepartment, Kudumbashree gave special care to them, theofficial pointed out. Kudumbashree has mobilised and trained 786 volunteers witheach one of them contacting 10 people. The one-to-onecontact campaign with the elderly is effective. It also has atouch of care, he said. Expressing happiness over Kudumbashree teams making one-to-one contact with such a large number of people indestitute and quarantined families, Harikishore said itboosted their confidence considerably. The third phase of the campaign targeted elderly people indestitute families under Destitute-Free Kerala project ofKudumbashree. Among 1.54 lakh destitute families, there are 1.14 lakhelderly people. We designated 2,176 resource persons and theycontacted them once in five days. So far, we have covered 95per cent such vulnerable people, he added. LGK UDNVG NVG