India stands at a unique junction of Elderly Care; on one hand the demand is growing rapidly yet there are no signs of any national level standards, guidelines & monitoring mechanics.
The number of startups in the Aged Care sector are not a joke any more, to be honest it is a bit overwhelming. Not that this growth trajectory is being discouraged rather it is welcome, however the larger point of debate is, Growth at whose cost and whose life?
Eldercare is all about dealing with human lives, the same way a nursing home, hospital and other healthcare services are offered, of course combined with hospitality services, but then how well is this industry regulated and who is actually ensuring safety & security of the Older customers?
The margin of error is supposed to be kept at the lowest because a wrong medication or an oversight can have cascading effects on an Elderly, but then, how well equipped are the service providers in delivering care & in emergency monitoring & response processes?
Today all across social media, there are numerous advertisements regarding Home Care, Care Homes, Rehabilitation Care etc etc, which shows that the big fat cash cow called 'Old Age Care' has arrived, but then are the herders qualified, registered, trained in this subject matter or is it purely a mom & pop store game?
For the larger operators and service providers there may not be much issues because of funding and deep pockets, but for those single room setups who were offering domestic help services suddenly camouflaging themselves as professional Eldercare service providers could become a choke point in the overall growth & confidence of this industry.
In my opinion, Aged Care as a subject needs to be reviewed under a National Act and be separated from the typical State level Healthy Service Delivery.
This is a subject where the standards have to be of equal level playing field and should not be left on the bandwidth of remote district implementation who themselves are still struggling to provide basic human rights.
Over analysing the demographic info on the computer & making pretty presentations on the problems and solutions is not going to solve the problem, eventually it is going to be the intent and the implementation which will define the future of Ageing in India, and for that we need home grown simple, affordable & practical solutions, not some technology transfer.
Caregiving is going to become a big need and if stakeholders who have a say in policy making do not show the mirror to the world and to the people in power, then as a country we might have more thorns in the bouquet of flowers than the flowers themselves.
Do visit the Elderly Care India website: (elderlycareindia.org) for free resources and guidance information.
Pankaj Mehrotra
