Active and Healthy

Glad to read a news article about senior citizens (http://bit.ly/1lyRgvz) who are determined to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy by hitting the gym daily.They are a true inspiration for many of us to lead an active and healthy life.

Need for Elder friendly banks

Today morning while going through the newspaper I came across a news http://bit.ly/1cstpbY which brought a smile on my face. I am glad to know that the city police in Thane has requested the banks to give special preferences to senior citizens for their bank transaction.

This is something which has been in my mind from a long time. I feel that not only senior citizens should be given preference but also a separate counter should be dedicated to them for helping and guiding them as most of them need assistance in carrying out their transaction. For making the banks elder friendly, along with services the infrastructure of the bank also need to be made convenient for elders.

I strongly wish that this issue should be taken up seriously by the banks as a first step towards making the banks elder friendly.

Happy New Year!

Wishing you and your family a very happy, healthy and productive 2014. Along with enhancing our health and happiness lets work on enhancing the well-being of others in the society through our endeavours.

Happy Christmas! Time for family bonding

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas. Festivals are a special occasion not only because it is a time for merriment but also because it is the time for family bonding, sharing and care. It is the perfect time for inter-generational bonding. So, enjoy it with your family and friends and especially with the elder members of your family as often they are the one who look forward to this day for family gathering and for celebration, which is one of the major determinant in the enhancement of their well-being.

Senior Citizens as Changemakers

While conducting the training sessions for senior citizens during the past 3 months, I met some really enthusiastic and active senior citizens for whom age is just a number. Inspite of their age specific problems they are all geared up to work hard towards empowerment of older persons. Kudos to them. They are the changemakers and a real example of active and productive ageing.

R.I.P Nelson Mandela

This post is a tribute to Nelson Mandela, a courageous leader who fought through out his life for equality and peace. Though he is no more but his great initiatives will always be in our mind and inspire us to follow his path. May his soul rest in peace.

United Nations Policy Formulation Programme for Welfare of Elderly

I am glad that after being many years on my wishlist, finally I got the opportunity to participate in the United Nations "International Programme in Policy Formulation, Planning, Implementation and Monitoring of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing", which was organized by the International Institute on Ageing, Malta between 14th to 25th October, 2013.

It was a great learning experience where participants from twelve countries across Europe, Asia and Africa shared the ageing scenario in their countries along with the challenges and best practices towards welfare of elderly.

Through this programme I got the opportunity to meet and interact with experts in the area of ageing, who trained us in formulating and designing need based policies and programmes for the welfare of elderly, which are based on the priority directives of Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (2002).

This training programme has raised my confidence to put my ideas into action for designing and implementing need based programme for the welfare of Elderly in India, on which I have already started working.

Happy World Elders' Day

On the occasion of World Elders' Day, I wish all my 60+ friends a very healthy, productive and active life. For achieving this aim, one has to not only be physically active but also be psychologically fit and socially engaged in various fruitful activities. Along with this, I request everyone, especially our younger generation to be empathetic towards the needs and feelings of the elders, strengthen the inter-generational bond and contribute towards development of our society. A society can only flourish when its members are happy and satisfied.

Today is World Alzheimer's Day

Today on World Alzheimer's Day (21st Sept, 2013), let us all join hands to spread awareness about alzheimer's and dementia in our community, especially among senior citizens and their family, so that appropriate steps can be taken at right time to prevent it and to deal with it.

Read about some of the initiatives taken in Mumbai for creating awareness on this issue:  http://www.themetrognome.in/campaign/mumbai-observing-world-alzheimers-month

Empowerment of Elderly Women

Many of us often tend to consider the population of older persons as a homogeneous group, with similar types of needs and demands. May be that is why most of the schemes by the government focuses on older population in general and not specifically on the gender dimensions, thus making the much needed empowerment of elderly women a difficult task to accomplish.

With an increase in proportion of older persons in India, maintenance of health and well-being of both male and female elderly has become an important issue, however, this has become a serious concern among the elderly women, who as compared to their male counterparts are more vulnerable to health problems such as osteoporosis, menopausal complications and depression; and are more likely to face financial constraints due to less workforce participation or lack of financial savings for old age. As they live longer than men, they are more likely to be widowed and living alone, thus becoming more vulnerable to crimes and abuses.Situation is worst for those who belong to lower economic status.Due to the phenomenon of feminization of ageing in India, all these issues have become more acute and are thus emphasizing on the dire need to implement older women specific programmes and schemes toward promotion of their health and well-being. I seriously believe that the promotion of health and well-being of elderly women is a major step towards their empowerment, because until and unless they are not physically and psychologically healthy and are not satisfied with their life and environmental context, they won't be able to empower themselves.Empowerment of elderly women is a gradual process in which elderly women, their family, civil society and government have a major role to play to tackle the various challenges at their own level towards achievement of this goal.

Recently, had a fruitful discussion on these issues with fellow participants at the International Conference on Ageing Women (organized and supported by Stree Shakti and HelpAge India), where I was invited as a speaker to highlight and discuss various issues and concerns related to health and well-being of elderly women. Strongly wish that our deliberations should contribute towards empowerment of older women in India.