Role of family in Healthy Ageing

Based on my field related experiences of working with senior citizens and my PhD work, I can say that family plays a major role in the promotion of healthy ageing. Family is not only a means of social and financial support in old age but it also acts as a primary caregiver for the elderly member.

Along with this, involvement in some recreational activities with members of the family especially children is a source of well-being for senior citizens, which not only keeps them happy and active but also instills in them a sense of satisfaction and contentment with life. The respect, love and care which the senior citizens receive in their family not only increases their self worth but also makes their life meaningful and purposeful. 

Imagine, if a senior citizen is not receiving such attention and affection from her/his children for whose settlement she/he has worked hard throughout her/his life, then how would her/his life be? Some times such extreme indifferent and negative attitude of family members towards the elderly member results in their entry in old age home or their abuse at home. It is really sad to see that this is happening in a country like India where traditionally senior citizens have been revered as God. 

However, this does not mean that all young people are misbehaving with their parents or elder member of the family. Sometimes, they are not prepared for taking care of the elderly either financially or in terms of healthcare because of their limited income and hectic work schedule. In such cases training of family members for care-giving (especially for old age related illnesses like Alzheimer and Osteoporosis) and financial planning is a must. Training on financial planning must be focused upon health care and lifestyle need related expenses of senior citizens, such as recurring (medicines, health checkups,adult diapers etc.), non recurring (assistive devices e.g: glasses,hearing aids,wheelchairs, walkers, walking sticks etc.) and emergency expenses (surgery and related medical expenses).

In your view what is family's role in a person's life?