New Deal For The Old
SHOT IN THE DARK
Isn't it time the government tried to find out what actually happens in old-age homes, asks Uttam Sengupta
KOLKATA (The Telegraph), April 20, 2005:
The old can be a handful. They can be stubborn, childlike, go into a sulk at the drop of a hat and make unreasonable demands. They can also suffer in silence. The point is that just as we require special training to deal with children and even more specialized training to handle ?challenged children?, we also require some training to deal with the old. They require more patience and more tact because they are adults with fairly strong likes and dislikes. But while the government has been magnanimous in allowing the growth of old-age homes and helping many with grants, the idea of regulating them or creating a special cadre of social workers and nurses has not occurred to it. Nor has it thought of the need of legislation to monitor and regulate old-age homes.
Should such homes have special tiles in bathrooms so that people do not slip on them? Or, should anyone be allowed to start a home without the relevant experience or training? What happens if such homes are inadequately staffed or renege on promises made ? Is there any remedy if the inmates are bad-mouthed, abused or, worse, treated like juvenile delinquents? What happens to the inmates if a home is declared bankrupt ?
There are old-age homes which do not have round-the-clock medical services or even an alarm to be used in emergencies. Some homes have design defects like steep stairs or alarmingly low railings. Some do not have wheelchairs while others cannot afford the services of competent doctors. Most of them function like half-way homes to the grave. Austere, even spartan, they sap the desire to live, forcing inmates to pray for an early release.
Of late, a different kind of old-age homes have surfaced to cater to NRIs, who find it easier, and cheaper, to dump parents in ostensibly luxurious homes with airconditioners and colour televisions in every room. The choice of food ranges from the continental to Chinese to Indian. There are parlours, newspapers and card-rooms and frequent cultural functions. What can possibly go wrong in such a set-up ?
Well, to start with, the caretakers can be cantankerous or schizophrenic. One day they can decide to ?punish? an inmate for the crime of discussing the poor quality of food served. Another day they can announce that one would have to pay for the ?hot water? for the Complan. If an inmate, who cannot go down to the dining room for some physical infirmity, wishes for the room-service she has already paid for, she can be ticked off for not comprehending English. The room-service, she might be informed, covers breakfast, lunch and dinner and not hot water.
Caretakers and managers who shout and scream, abuse inmates and seek to punish them for perceived acts of omission and commission, are scarcely qualified to run old-age homes. But they do because there is no law which requires them to have special training and no legislation that makes them accountable.
Like health-tourism, it is just a matter of time before Europeans and Americans discover India as an El Dorado for the old. At a fraction of the cost in the developed world, the old can be assured here of a better quality of life. Old-age homes will increasingly provide commercial opportunities and people will come up with even more exotic old-age resorts and homes in order to rake in the moolah. Surely it is time for the government to step in?
An ideal model could be to have old-age homes with schools, artisans? showrooms and the painters? studio so that the inmates can feel sufficiently young to contribute to other activities.
By Uttam Sengupta
Copyright © 2005 The Telegraph
April 20, 2005
INDIA: Time Government Finds Out What Actually Happens in Old Age Homes
New Deal For The Old
SHOT IN THE DARK
Isn't it time the government tried to find out what actually happens in old-age homes, asks Uttam Sengupta
KOLKATA (The Telegraph), April 20, 2005:
The old can be a handful. They can be stubborn, childlike, go into a sulk at the drop of a hat and make unreasonable demands. They can also suffer in silence. The point is that just as we require special training to deal with children and even more specialized training to handle ?challenged children?, we also require some training to deal with the old. They require more patience and more tact because they are adults with fairly strong likes and dislikes. But while the government has been magnanimous in allowing the growth of old-age homes and helping many with grants, the idea of regulating them or creating a special cadre of social workers and nurses has not occurred to it. Nor has it thought of the need of legislation to monitor and regulate old-age homes.
Should such homes have special tiles in bathrooms so that people do not slip on them? Or, should anyone be allowed to start a home without the relevant experience or training? What happens if such homes are inadequately staffed or renege on promises made ? Is there any remedy if the inmates are bad-mouthed, abused or, worse, treated like juvenile delinquents? What happens to the inmates if a home is declared bankrupt ?
There are old-age homes which do not have round-the-clock medical services or even an alarm to be used in emergencies. Some homes have design defects like steep stairs or alarmingly low railings. Some do not have wheelchairs while others cannot afford the services of competent doctors. Most of them function like half-way homes to the grave. Austere, even spartan, they sap the desire to live, forcing inmates to pray for an early release.
Of late, a different kind of old-age homes have surfaced to cater to NRIs, who find it easier, and cheaper, to dump parents in ostensibly luxurious homes with airconditioners and colour televisions in every room. The choice of food ranges from the continental to Chinese to Indian. There are parlours, newspapers and card-rooms and frequent cultural functions. What can possibly go wrong in such a set-up ?
Well, to start with, the caretakers can be cantankerous or schizophrenic. One day they can decide to ?punish? an inmate for the crime of discussing the poor quality of food served. Another day they can announce that one would have to pay for the ?hot water? for the Complan. If an inmate, who cannot go down to the dining room for some physical infirmity, wishes for the room-service she has already paid for, she can be ticked off for not comprehending English. The room-service, she might be informed, covers breakfast, lunch and dinner and not hot water.
Caretakers and managers who shout and scream, abuse inmates and seek to punish them for perceived acts of omission and commission, are scarcely qualified to run old-age homes. But they do because there is no law which requires them to have special training and no legislation that makes them accountable.
Like health-tourism, it is just a matter of time before Europeans and Americans discover India as an El Dorado for the old. At a fraction of the cost in the developed world, the old can be assured here of a better quality of life. Old-age homes will increasingly provide commercial opportunities and people will come up with even more exotic old-age resorts and homes in order to rake in the moolah. Surely it is time for the government to step in?
An ideal model could be to have old-age homes with schools, artisans? showrooms and the painters? studio so that the inmates can feel sufficiently young to contribute to other activities.
By Uttam Sengupta
Copyright © 2005 The Telegraph
