A senior care study released by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) predicts a trebling of the population of senior citizens in India by 2050, with a consequent increase in senior care products and services.   

 

According to Ankur Gupta, joint managing director of Ashiana Housing Ltd who headed the task force, “The senior population in India is supposed to triple by year 2050 from 2011 and longevity will increase from 67.5 in 2015 to 75.9 in 2050. However, despite such staggering demographics, none of our urban infrastructure are built to keep seniors in mind. Public transport, parks, activities for seniors, friendly side walks and age friendly homes or public spaces lack sensitivity to this age cohort. As aging population increases, we will have to spend lot more of our budget in making infrastructure suitable for seniors”.

 

 

"As a services subsector, senior care is in its nascent stage in the Indian economy. Despite close to 130 million seniors in India, there is a clear lack of concerted capacity augmentation and policy support for an industry catering to senior needs. A subject like this is of social significance and it is also important to mobilise the latent business opportunity that lies within the sector," says Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.

 

The study points out that the senior population is the fastest growing segment in the world, with senior citizens outnumbering those below age 15 by 2050. Consequently, the market for senior care products is set to increase from almost $320 billion in 2013 to $436.6 billion by 2018, representing a five-year compound annual growth rate of 6.4 percent, according to a market research report by BCC Research. 

 

The CII study says that India’s elderly population in India is expected to triple from 104 million in 2011 to 300 million in 2050, accounting for 18% of the total population. To put it in perspective, it says, India’s population of 60+ is already equal to the entire population of Mexico and Russia and by 2050 it will be close to the entire population of the United States.  In fact, our population of seniors in the 80+ age group will itself be equal to the population of Belgium, Greece, or Cuba at 12 million persons.  This is both an opportunity and a huge challenge. 

 

 

As per the report, detailed demand estimates on latest census updates and other secondary research reveal that the senior housing demand from urban and rural sector is about 2.4 lakh houses and 51,500 houses, of which high income group (HIG) is 60,000, and middle income group (MIG) is 70,000. The growth of supply side in senior living and senior care on the other hand is quite intriguing with most senior living players, who had started 10 years back, expanding to multiple communities. Senior home care on the other hand, have expanded significantly over last five years with over 10 formal players and rapidly expanding base, it added.

 

The senior living industry currently employs over 4,500 employees outside of the old age homes, and the senior home care industry estimates are over Rs9,180 crore. With seniors expected to become 300 million and 20% of the country's population. The CII is clearly pitching for government interest in developing the potential of this sector; such interest is long overdue. 

 

Moneylife Foundation, our sister entity, which has compiled the first ever report on Retirement Homes  in India (has also been working at trying to push the government to work on a policy framework to protect senior citizens along with industry’s interest in exploiting the ‘market potential’ that the ageing population provides. (Read: Regulation of Retirement Homes under Consideration)

The CII study provides an important starting point in identifying various areas where the organised sector finds opportunities and business potential. 

 

The reports says there are well defined norms, development control byelaws as well as incentive models for development of senior specific formats,  which has not happened in India.  It correctly urges that - “As the industry evolves, it is therefore important to have a standard definition of senior care formats, so that there is uniformity in industry language, and policy interventions”. 

 

To prepare for the needs of seniors by 2050, CII has called for a collaborative effort from all stakeholders to work on a nine formats that it has identified. These are… 

 

Independent Living Community: This would include apartment complexes, condominiums, cooperatives and other such retirement communities, offering private residences designed for the independent senior. These types of communities do not provide medical services but instead provide seniors with hassle-free living, with some recreational facilities. A seniors-only housing community could be a standalone facility or a part of a larger housing project as an area, tower or cluster of apartments/homes. 

 

Assisted Living Community: Assisted living offers help with non-medical aspects of daily activities in an atmosphere of separate, private living units. It can be likened to congregate living for residents less able to function independently in all aspects of their daily lives. 

 

Skilled Nursing Facility: Skilled nursing facilities offer the most intensive level of care on the residential care continuum. Skilled nursing facilities are equipped to handle individuals with 24-hour nursing needs, post-operative recuperation, or complex medical care demands, as well as chronically- ill individuals who can no longer live independently. Such facilities may be freestanding or part of a senior community. SNFs may specialize in short-term or acute nursing care, intermediate or long-term skilled nursing care. 

 

Continuing Care Retirement Community: A Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) offers seniors a facility that combines housing, services and health care, allowing seniors to enjoy a private residential lifestyle with the opportunity of independence and the assurances of long-term health care. Within the CCRC, there are three types of care available, providing a phased approach to elderly living accommodations:

 

Independent living, in which the person lives on their own in an apartment or cottage-style housing; Assisted-living offering some level of assistance for residents; and skilled nursing care, for residents whose health is deteriorating

 

Memory Care Facility: Memory care facilities provide increased levels of care and safety for individuals with Alzheimer's and dementia. 

 

Senior Day Care facility: Day care centers provide stimulation and rehabilitation to elders providing medical care and related procedures. 

 

Home Care: Services provided to seniors within the senior's home addressing clinical and non-clinical support needs including engagement activities, ADL assistance support, housekeeping, home engineering support, nutrition support 

 

PWD Care: These are for senior citizens with Special children like Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down's Syndrome or Spastics. The model takes care of such senior citizens with Special children living in the Senior Care Centre and after the demise of the parents, cares for the Special children until their death 

 

Palliative Care: Palliative care is a multi disciplinary approach to specialized medical and nursing care for people with life-limiting illnesses. It focuses on providing people with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of the terminal diagnosis. 

 

The study of aging:

 

The emphasis on senior care and its issue is of much complexity, which lacks academic attention. These factors supplement the need for studies and the promotion of the field of gerontology which is the studies of ageing and geriatrics which is medical care for ageing people. The studies on old age care in return would create awareness and sensitize people at large.

 

That a leading industry association has chosen to dive into the market potential for products and services for senior citizens is bound to focus government attention on this far more than any of the earlier policies that have failed to be implemented. However, it is important that organisations dealing with senior citizens are active participants in the framing rules and policies concerning seniors in order to ensure that they provide security and guaranteed services to people who are not in the age-group where they can fight for their rights.  

 

On 9th February, Dravita Singh, standing at the door of a moving train, lost her fingers and a leg, when a man, who wanted to steal her mobile phone, hit her with a stick. She could have lost her life if the motorman had not noticed it. In another incident, on 10th March, Miloni Parekh was dragged up to the footboard of a Churchgate-bound train after she ran to save her mobile phone, when a man snatched it at Santa Cruz station.

 

These are just two gruesome instances from scores of such cases that occur on a daily basis, especially on Mumbai’s suburban trains. Some of these crimes committed by organised gangs are a menace for commuters; one such is the ‘fatka’ gang which gets its name from its technique, where two members work in tandem: one hits the commuter’s hand to loosen his/her grip on the phone while an accomplice quickly pockets the fallen instruments and runs away. 

 

The most common way thieves steal phones is by wheedling them out from backpacks and back pockets of trousers. It is also not uncommon for thieves to snatch phones from shirt pockets. As trains are very crowded, commuters do not realise their phone is missing until it is too late. 

 

Fortunately, there are processes that can aid people to recover their stolen goods. Renowned railway activist, Samir Zaveri, has always claimed that it is only due to the lack of diligence on the part of the victim that such criminals continue to persist with thieving. He also concedes that they work in collusion with the police and are protected by them as they do not register complaints correctly and or make an effort to nab the criminals. 

As the responsibility of theft lies partly on railway passengers, they should be aware of their rights and follow a few simple steps that could save them from a later headache. Passengers should always save the railway emergency number on their phone (182), check if their bags are securely zipped, inform the police about any suspicious behaviour and avoid standing on the footboard while speaking on the phone or travel on the footboard, for that matter. 

 

At a recent seminar organised by Moneylife Foundation, Samir Zaveri presented several case studies that demonstrated the effectiveness of the existing protocol for recovering stolen goods. The first step is to file a first information report (FIR) or complaint with the nearest government railway police (GRP) station. The victim should make sure that the complaint is being lodged as ‘theft’ and not as a ‘missing’ phone. This distinction is important because, in the case of the latter, the complaint will not be given proper attention and no attempt will be made to recover the phone. Unfortunately, getting the police to register an FIR, rather than a missing phone complaint, is tough and needs the passengers to insist on it. The victim need not present a purchase bill while filing an FIR. She only needs to provide the details of the model/make of the phone, with a detailed description and the unique international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number. Having this information with them, while going to file a complaint, is important. The complainant will receive a copy of the FIR for their reference.

 

Once the mobile is recovered by the GRP, they will contact the complainant and request them to present a Rs100 stamp paper along with the ID card and name/address details written on a plain sheet of paper to the nearest jurisdictional railway court. The court, in turn, will provide in writing on the stamp paper, details of the phone’s theft and ownership. All that the complainant has to do, at this point, is to sign the stamp paper and present it to the GRP for recovery of the mobile phone. 

 

Samir Zaveri insists that the process is quite simple; but most victims avoid approaching GRP with their complaint, as they are convinced of it being a lost cause.  During his talk, Mr Zaveri also presented another new resource that has been made available to rail passengers. Indian Railways have introduced a mobile application called ‘Rail Suraksha’ to ease the access of services to a passenger. The app provides contact details of relevant railway station masters, railway protection force (RPF) officers, the nearest GRP station location and other such relevant information. It is also able to register a complaint by noting pertinent details of station, train number, ticket number, PNR number, coach and berth number etc. The app further allows a complainant to track the status of her complaint within 48 hrs of making it.

 

Besides the app, Mr Zaveri also recommends using social media, especially Twitter, as a tool to make initial complaints or follow up on an existing complaint. The twitter handle of Indian Railways has been very deft in responding to complaints. But be aware, that Twitter is not the official method of getting a complaint resolved; it will garner attention to your complaint.

 

In effect, getting back your phone requires persistence; it is not always a lost cause.