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With the pandemic-induced elder vulnerability bringing to the forefront the urgency to provide relief and address systemic inequities, organisations working for the welfare of senior citizens have demanded an increase in <keyword id="7848122" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-pension" source="Orion">social pension</keyword> to Rs 3,000 among other demands ahead of the Union Budget 2022-23, to be tabled in the Parliament on February 1. There are an estimated 140 million elderly people in India. The demands touch the sectors of income and social security, health and geriatric care, and creating an enabling environment for elders with recommendations such as provisions for setting up of skill training and retooling centres for the elderly people; providing GST exemption on services and products commonly used by the elderly, such as adult diapers, medicines and healthcare equipment like wheelchairs, walkers etc. "As admirably done in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) to bring minimum health security for the disadvantaged, we hope the Centre will take leadership in setting a basic minimum social pension floor of Rs 3,000 per month for the poor elderly across the country and revise the Central contribution from a meagre Rs 200 (unchanged for 14 years) to at least Rs 1,000 per month. "Accelerated implementation of the National Programme for Healthcare of Elderly (NPHCE) with dedicated funds is another key step needed to bring in comprehensive geriatric care," said Rohit Prasad, CEO, HelpAge India. Echoing the demand for increasing the old-age pension, Agewell Foundation suggested a scheme to re-engage the seniors to tap the unexplored potential of elderly people, who have experience, knowledge, wisdom, resources, time and above all zeal to work in old age to keep themselves engaged and connected with the mainstream. It even suggested a name for the proposed scheme -- Prime Minister's Self-Employment Scheme for Retired and Senior Citizens (PM SSRSC). Founder-chairman of Agewell Foundation, Himanshu Rath, said, "Today, elderly persons are facing different kinds of challenges. Making elderly-friendly budgetary provisions would certainly play an important role in ensuring the welfare and well-being of the ever-increasing population of older persons in the country. The elderly persons need opportunities and greater participation in the mainstream so that they can remain gainfully engaged as long as they can." The two organisations also raised a volley of demands quoting fresh surveys/studies. On the basis of its January 2022 survey conducted among 5,000 elderly persons across the country, Agewell Foundation found that the budgetary provisions can address the issues concerning older persons to a larger extent. As many as 81 per cent of the elderly respondents believed that the government would consider issues concerning the older people. HelpAge India said the recently published findings of the Longitudinal Study of Ageing in India (LASI) has highlighted the facts of income and health security: Around 70 per cent of the elderly are faced with chronic diseases, while only about 30 per cent of the rural elderly from BPL households are recipients of old-age pension benefits. Just 26 per cent of households are covered by some form of health insurance in India. As many as 36 per cent of the elderly are working -- much higher in rural areas (40 per cent) than in urban areas (26 per cent), and mostly in the unorganised sector. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/tax-cuts-extension-of-pli-scheme-will-benefit-consumer-durables-industry/articleshow/89152735.cms">Tax cuts, extension of PLI scheme will benefit consumer durables industry</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/widening-tax-base-should-be-a-focus-area-in-the-union-budget-says-primus-research/articleshow/89093457.cms">Widening tax base should be a focus area in the Union Budget, says Primus Research</a>

Increase in social pension, GST exemption for medicines, wheelchairs among major demands by welfare organisations

Successful companies started by senior citizens

<ul><li>India is sitting on a demographic time bomb. People over the age of 60 are expected to account for 25% of India’s <keyword id="48933" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="population">population</keyword> by 2050.</li><li>The concept of <keyword id="2995734" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="senior-living">senior living</keyword> has been gaining traction in recent years owing to the migration of Indians and the breakdown of the joint family model. </li><li>However, most senior care options are mostly geared towards the upper-middle class. The low-cost options leave a lot to be desired. </li></ul> My father was 64 when he had his first heart attack in September 2015. He downplayed the pain and told my brother and I, who were 23 years old at the time, that it was just acidity. We didn’t know better. Four days later, on his 65th birthday, the heart attack led to a stroke, which affected a small part of his brain that dealt with his speech and comprehension. Following his discharge from the hospital, my brother and I worked out an arrangement with our respective employers wherein we worked from home on alternative days so we could take care of him. My father slowly regained his verve and became somewhat self-sufficient by the end of 2015. However, he suffered another stroke and an epileptic seizure in April 2016. After my father suffered a third stroke in February 2017, the idea of putting him in an assisted living facility was floated by my uncle. My brother was living in Bombay by this point and I was spending more time at work so it seemed like the sensible thing to do. The concept of senior living, while relatively new to India, has been gaining traction in recent years and with good reason. There were 103.8 million citizens above the age of 60 in India in 2011, according to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the number is expected to reach 143 million by 2021 and 173 million by 2026. Concurrently, as nuclear families are in vogue, the safety net afforded to old people by the joint family model is disintegrating. India has also seen a wave of migration in the last few decades as young people have gone to big metros as well as foreign countries in search of better opportunities, leaving their parents behind. More and more old people are living alone- which makes them vulnerable to <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/increase-in-crimes-against-senior-citizens-in-chennai-forces-them-to-shift-to-retirement-homes-3109622.html">crime</a> and depression. And the problem will only get worse. People over the age of 60 are expected to account for 25% of India’s population by 2050. India’s emerging market counterparts like Brazil and China are also sitting on a similar demographic time-bomb resulting from decades of exponential economic growth, improved health outcomes and stretched budgets. While Western countries like the US and UK started laying the foundational groundwork for their senior care industries in the latter half of the 20th century, BRIC countries only began developing an industrial framework to address the problem in the recent past - that too, by encouraging foreign participation and co-opting the western model of senior living which marries real estate development with at-home care. The Senior Care Act The Indian government has made some noticeable interventions but they haven’t produced the desired results. For example, in 2007, there government of India passed the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and <keyword id="20566" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="senior-citizens">Senior Citizens</keyword> Act. The act requires children to take care of their parents in <keyword id="6378960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="old-age">old age</keyword>. It also mandates the establishment of old age homes by state governments. The act has failed on both fronts. Senior citizens neither have the knowledge of their rights or the will to take their children to court. As of mid-2017, only 360 homes had been built by state governments with central funding under the Integrated Programme for Older Persons (IPOP), according to data from the social justice ministry. India’s private sector takes the lead However, India’s private sector has spotted the gap in the market, taking inspiration from the US’s $300 billion senior living industry. By 2013, India had 30 assisted living projects in India, with another 30 in the pipeline, according to Jones Lang Lasalle, a commercial real estate firm. There are a number of developers building “retirement resorts” in North India to cater to the high-end segment. Max India, a <keyword id="6354525" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="healthcare">healthcare</keyword> giant, has a 200-block senior living facility called Antara on the outskirts of the city of Dehradun. Pitched as the confluence of lifestyle and life care, the community boasts state-of-the-art medical facilities with in-house doctors as well as a a fitness centre, which includes a gym, spa and a swimming pool. Prices for a property here start at a cool $300,000. However, the senior living trend actually took flight in south Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where a large number of non-resident Indians (NRI) hail from, before spreading to the North. In recognition of their high purchasing power, Covai Care, a Coimbatore-based developer, launched S3 Retirement Homes, one of India’s first retirement projects, according to its general manager, S Prabhakar, in 2007 to cater to this market. While the senior living market has doubled since then, says Prabhakar, it is still in a nascent stage. Covai Care primarily offers three forms of care facilities for its residents- assisted care for senior residents, palliative care for terminally ill patients and memory care for patients with dementia or Alzheimer's with properties in Bangalore, Mysore, Coimbatore and Pondicherry. The properties don’t come cheap either. With prices ranging from $60,000 to $150,000 depending on size, residents also have to pay around $270-$300 a month for medical and maintenance fees. Prabhakar maintains that these costs are in line with the average cost of living for these patients anyway. He also expects the demand for these properties to be robust, citing the increase in life expectancy and growing trend of senior citizens who crave independence. The middle ground India is striving to create cheaper offerings for the middle class too. Arun Gupta, the chief executive of Age Ventures India (AVI), a non-profit organisation that petitions builders to develop properties, echoes Mr Prabhakar’s beliefs about the industry’s prospects. “The senior citizen population is growing at a rate of 3.8% per annum, while the overall population of India is growing at 1.8%” he says. For a small consulting fee, AVI works with developers to build elder care homes and communities by sharing best practices and identifying project locations. These homes are modestly priced, with a 1BHK unit starting at $22,500 at the organisation’s first project in Bangalore. Ashiana Housing, a Delhi-based real estate developer, pitches its retirement communities to the middle class in tier-1 and tier-2 cities . The price ranges between $45,000 million and $100,000 for the units, and that demand for them follows the same pattern as the housing market. Amit Dogra, the sales manager for Ashiana's senior living segment, doesn’t think much of India’s cultural aversion to old age homes. “98% of our residents chose senior living independently. They were not forced by their children.” Abhishek Mohanty, a facility design and marketing consultant at Epoch Elder Care, feels otherwise. “Social stigma, especially from relatives, is more of a problem than affordability”, he says. “This is why we target higher-net-worth individuals and NRIs as they are more open to the idea of senior living and are willing to spend the money”. Founded in 2011, Epoch Elder Care originally started as a provider of home care services and personnel before transitioning into the assisted living space. It follows a rental model, entailing a one-time deposit and monthly rental fee, which is better suited to middle class customers. Epoch has three retirement homes with monthly fees of $1,800 for short-term single occupancy guests and $1,350 for long-term guests, which excludes the rather-high 18% GST rate on senior living. Around 60% of Epoch’s residents are dementia patients, which limits the amount of residents per facility. Mohanty is optimistic about his company’s prospects given the country’s increasing awareness about dementia and the growing number of senior citizens. By 2022, Epoch plans to have as many as 12 facilities, with an average of around 50 guests each, operating all over India. The sense of stigma attached to senior living, while declining, is still a consideration for the relatively well-off. Rachna (name changed), a corporate lawyer in her 40s, says that the decision to send her father to a retirement home outside Gurgaon last year was not an easy one. “My friends felt that I was relinquishing my sense of duty,” she said, “and my father likened the experience to being sent to jail”. However, she feels that it was the best option since she and her husband had full-time jobs and two teenage children to take care off. Now, her father, a former stroke victim and arthritis patient, benefits from round-the-clock care and companionship in the facility. No respite at the bottom Senior living seems to be an effective solution for people who can afford it, but for the hundreds of millions that can’t, their options are few and far between. At the lower end of the spectrum, the government-operated old age homes, which feature dormitories instead of rooms, are understaffed and in a deplorable condition, according to Matthew Cherian, the chief executive of HelpAge India. There are a number of cheaper nursing homes that are run by private owners, however quality is still an issue given the lack of government-imposed industry standards. And some of these also operate without licenses and accreditation. In 2012, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/68-nursing-homes-dont-have-licences/articleshow/13238672.cms">68 nursing homes </a>were found to be operating illegally in Pune. A variety of non-profit organisations like HelpAge India also run and support old age homes, but the supply of beds in such homes is drastically outweighed by the number of people that need them. As I write this, it’s been more than 13 months since my father’s last stroke. He’s in good spirits. He’s been eating well and going for walks every evening with other senior citizens in our gated community in Gurgaon. He has moved past his initial resistance and softened his stance towards senior living facilities, in anticipation of my eventual departure from home. “If I have to go one day, I’ll go”, he says. “Maybe I can get my friends to come with me too”. If only other Indians like him had the same option.

Here's what the future of the senior living industry looks like for 25% of India’s population

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A French <keyword id="7441159" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Senior-Care">senior care</keyword> home developed a plastic "happiness bubble" to help residents safely see their loved ones and friends during the pandemic. </li><li>One side of the bubble is a sealed room where residents can safely sit across from their loved ones, separated by a wall of plastic, retirement home director <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1265487894103244800">Audrey Bernard told Reuters.</a></li><li>Loved ones who haven't seen or touched each other in months can now do so safely through the plastic sheet.</li><li>Senior homes and care facilities have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-death-toll-nursing-homes-federal-government-estimate-2020-4">hit especially hard by the coronavirus,</a> so these centers are taking extra precautions to protect their residents. </li></ul>A senior care home in France created a plastic bubble to let residents safely see their loved ones and friends during the pandemic. The "happiness bubble" allows loved ones to safely sit across from each other while divided by a wall of clear plastic, <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1265487894103244800">reported Reuters. </a>"The bubble is a bit magical because it allows you to have the impression that you're touching each other, given that the central wall is totally flexible," Retirement home director <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1265487894103244800">Audrey</a> Bernard told Reuters. One at a time, the home's residents take a seat on one side of the sealed room. Then, their loved ones enter from a plastic hallway on the opposite side of the sphere.Inside, they can see each other, converse, and even touch hands, separated only by a thin piece of plastic. Senior care facilities and nursing homes have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-nursing-home-records-horrifying-98-coronavirus-deaths-2020-5">hit especially hard by the coronavirus</a> — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-death-toll-nursing-homes-federal-government-estimate-2020-4">with higher virus death rates than the average population.</a> The World <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health">Health</keyword> Organization estimated that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/half-europes-covid-19-deaths-in-long-term-care-facilities-2020-4">half of Europe's coronavirus deaths were in long-term care facilities,</a> including senior centers. Elderly people are some of the most vulnerable to <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword>, the disease caused by the novel <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>, so these centers have had to take additional precautions to ensure their vulnerable residents' safety.It means many have gone months without seeing their loved ones. <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1265487894103244800">Bernard told Reuters</a> the lack of physical contact and in-person visits has been detrimental to the health of some residents, especially those with Alzheimer's and dementia. "Touch, notably with people who have Alzheimer's, is important," Bernard told Reuters. "Sometimes they can no longer talk, the only thing they can do is touch." Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/senior-home-created-plastic-bubble-let-residents-see-family-again-2020-5">Insider</a>

A care home created a plastic 'happiness bubble' to let residents safely see and touch their family again

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Nacho DoceIn São Paulo, Brazil, a contestant dances next to relatives and friends during a beauty contest for elderly women held in honor of Mother's Day.</div></div></div>People are living longer than ever before.A recent study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that global life expectancy for both men and women <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/people-living-longer-but-not-healthier-2015-9">increased from 65.3 years in 1990 to 71.5 years in 2013</a>.Senior citizens with big personalities - for example, 87-year-old grandma Baddie Winkle, <a href="A contestant dances next to relatives and friends during a beauty contest for elderly women, in honor of Mother's Day, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.">who's earned more than 1.6 million followers</a> for her hilarious posts on Instagram - are slowly changing the stereotypes surrounding those over 60.The United Nations has even designated a day in October to honor the older people who have made contributions to our world. Dubbed the "International Day of Older Persons," October 1 is a day when we "recognize that older persons are an enormous asset to society and make a significant contribution to global development," UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/olderpersonsday/2015/sgmessage.shtml">writes</a>.The following senior citizens are definitely still living life to the fullest - following the famous quote attributed to Mark Twain: "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."(Captions by Sarah Jacobs and Reuters)

16 senior citizens who are having the time of their lives

The impact of social media on the youth has been measured time and again, but a new study by HelpAge <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> analyses how access to internet affects the <keyword id="20970" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="elderly">elderly</keyword>. To compile ‘<a href="https://www.helpageindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ELDER-ABUSE-IN-INDIA-2018-A-HelpAge-India-report.pdf">Elder Abuse in India - 2018</a>’, the organisation collected data from 23 cities resulting in a culmination of 5,014 respondents. They’ve specifically studied the impact of technology and social media across different parameters. Understanding how and why the elderly come online helps form a picture about the impact the Internet has on their world. Access to the internet At a national level, only 4% of <keyword id="20566" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="senior-citizens">senior citizens</keyword> use the internet. Even in individual cities, the percentage of usage only goes as high as 6%. Most of the respondents indicated that they primarily access the Internet using their mobile phones. 66% of users access the internet at least once a day, with 39% logging in frequently in the span of 24 hours while the other 27% only check-in once a day. 
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 Purpose of using social media Among elderly internet users, their time online is primarily split between social media, online entertainment, messaging apps and reading the news. While platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp are used to keep in touch with family and friends, other avenues like YouTube serve the purpose of learning new things. 

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 Perception about social media The senior citizen’s perception about social media can be measured in terms of the benefits it provides, the purpose it serves and its effect on the paradigms of society. Most senior citizens agree that social media serves a particular purpose for them - one that has given them a platform where they can share their problems with others. That being said, there’s a paradox. While 69% of respondents agree that social media has increased their relationships with extended family and friends, at the same time, it has reduced the amount of personal time that was usually spent directly with the family. Use of technology vis-a-vis abuse of the elderly It’s no longer a secret that the use of technology and social media in conjunction can lead to reduced personal interactions in the real world. Which is why it’s not surprising that most senior citizens believe that ‘quality time’ is on the downslope. The bigger issue, however, lies elsewhere. According to the report, 65% of elderly internet users believe that giving extreme attention to phones or computers is disrespectful, and in turn, leads to elders being ‘abused’ or ignored on purpose. In the city of Mangalore, nearly all of the users believe that this is the case. HelpAge’s conclusion derives that while internet connectivity has given them exposure and a away to connect to family outside of India, it has also left them in ‘<keyword id="76059" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="isolation">isolation</keyword>’ due to extended use and often ‘abuse’ from the younger generation who choose to focus on their devices over other things and people.

Social media helps senior citizens keep in touch with family, but prolonged use leads to isolation: Report

Mumbai, May 21 () Private lender ICICI Bank on Thursday announced a fixed deposit product with an enhanced interest rate offering of 0.80 percentage point for senior citizens. Earlier, banks used to give an additional interest of 0.50 per cent to senior citizens. With a sharp decrease in interest rates since the beginning of the pandemic, lenders starting with SBI and then HDFC Bank have enhanced the premium paid to elder people. Senior citizens depositing with ICICI Bank will be earning 6.55 per cent per annum for deposits of under Rs 2 crore for a tenor between 5-10 years, the bank said in a statement. The product is available only till September 30, it said. "We know that FD interest is a key source of income for a large section of senior citizens. Keeping this in mind, we are offering higher interest rates to them through the new scheme, even in the declining interest rate regime, as a mark of our respect to them," Pranav Mishra, who heads the liabilities group, said. AA MR MR

ICICI Bank offers higher interest rate to senior citizens

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Senior living facilities are using social media to document their hilarious and honest residents</li><li>Participating in social media trends might be good for seniors' mental health, experts suggest.</li></ul>The antidote to <a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/health/sex-relationships/how-social-media-affects-relationships">doom-scrolling yourself into oblivion</a>?Senior living TikTok.Senior living accounts on TikTok allow people who live in assisted living facilities to share their knowledge, experience, and humor with the world. While it's unclear just how many of these accounts exist, the hashtag #seniorliving has been used 103.6 million times, and the hashtag #seniorlivingcommunity has been used 8.9 million times.One popular senior living account is <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@allegriaseniorliving">Allegria Senior Living</a>, which is run by Chana Lachman, Allegria's regional director of public relations and branding.Lachman works out of Allegria Senior Living's residence in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, and collaborates with residents to produce and post daily short skits and clips. She attributes the overwhelmingly positive feedback on their account to the residents being their unapologetic and authentic selves."They talk uncensored and from their hearts. Everyone [on TikTok] likes that realness. They're not putting it on for the camera. It's very pure," she told Insider. Lachman said Allegria's residents were initially confused by the idea of posting to TikTok, but eager and excited to learn. Now, after running the account for the past two years, she knows who her superstars are, and they approach her about strategy for filming the next video. (<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@allegriaseniorliving/video/6992235822305135877?_r=1&amp;_t=8VJuZvlFOe6&amp;is_from_webapp=v1&amp;item_id=6992235822305135877">One video</a> featuring willing residents raked in close to 2 million views.) Lachman believes that it builds their self-esteem and helps them feel connected to each other and the outside world."They love to read the comments on the viral videos," she said. A quick look at the overwhelmingly positive comments shows that these accounts may buck the research that says <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7364393/">social media can be aggravating to mental health</a>. Many viewers cheer residents on and laugh with them at their take on trends. Staff members are also featured, and Lachman says the account has even helped with employee morale.Lachman says she believes the account is helping to bridge a gap between the residents and younger generations, whether it be strangers or family members. "I believe it's fighting ageism," she said. <h2>Having hobbies helps older adults, but privacy and consent are still key</h2>"There is good research to suggest that social activities, such as a hobby or engaging in new pursuits, does seem to be really beneficial to older adults," said Brenna Renn, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who specializes in behavioral interventions for older adults. Renn told Insider developing hobbies — be it puzzles, pottery, or posting to TikTok — "can <a href="https://n.neurology.org/content/neurology/early/2022/08/10/WNL.0000000000200929.full.pdf%20">reduce the risk for dementia</a>, the risk for depression, and preserve cognitive health." She added that staying physically, socially, and mentally active as you age may protect against or forestall decline — and that staying active on social media could potentially help.However, Renn said that privacy can be a concern when talking about older people posting to social platforms — and consent is crucial."You need residents to really understand how their likeness may be used and distributed on the internet," she said. Renn added that there hasn't been enough scientific research yet to prove that social media positively effects older adults. "We don't really know from a research perspective whether social media has beneficial effects on older adults or if it's detrimental," she said. She stressed that research is needed to understand the potential consequences, and if the perceived benefits hold for all older adult groups.But Lachman only sees the positives. "We're on the happy side of TikTok," she said. 'We get to spread love."

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Increase in social pension, GST exemption for medicines, wheelchairs among major demands by welfare organisations

IANS

Successful companies started by senior citizens

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Here's what the future of the senior living industry looks like for 25% of India’s population

Dilsher Dhillon

A care home created a plastic 'happiness bubble' to let residents safely see and touch their family again

Canela López

16 senior citizens who are having the time of their lives

Jack Sommer,Sarah Jacobs

Social media helps senior citizens keep in touch with family, but prolonged use leads to isolation: Report

Prabhjote Gill

ICICI Bank offers higher interest rate to senior citizens

PTI

Senior living accounts are blowing up on TikTok and turning senior citizens into stars

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