Healthcare providers specialising in Geriatric care will be in great demand in the near future:-

For Gautam Chaudhary, the greatest joy is in seeing an elderly person in high spirits. “They can be very rigid, but once you understand their unique needs they are the most wonderful people to be with,” says Chaudhary, a Calcutta-based geriatric counsellor. And there are going to be more elderly people in India in the future.

According to census figures, the elderly (60 plus) population in India increased from 20 million in 1951 to 84 million in 2001. According to the United Nations, it is set to reach 107 million in 2010 and 198 million in 2030. Even as life expectancy increases in India, care for the elderly has been one area where the country has been found wanting.

“At present, we are walking when we should have been running. The problem is, unlike in western countries, India is having to face the geriatric load before becoming economically developed. We do not have the proper systems in place and cannot afford them either,” says Dr .P. Sharma, general secretary of the Geriatric Society of India (GSI). The GSI spreads awareness about the needs of the elderly, acts as an advocacy group and works with the government on policies related to the elderly.

Indian culture puts the onus of caring for the elderly on their children but, as a result of urbanisation, many children have flown the nest and there is no one to take care of elderly parents. So, more than doctors, what India needs is a robust army of paramedics specialising in geriatric care. Chaudhary is one such professional in a field that is set to explode in the coming years.

“A doctor can prescribe medicines, operate and advise an elderly person on health whereas a caregiver like me acts like a friend who helps an elderly person see the bright side of life,” says Chaudhary.

A geriatric professional examines an elderly person’s physical, mental and psycho-social health and designs programmes according to individual needs. That can involve making changes in the living area to make movement easy, recommending certain physical exercises or even psychological help.

The National Policy on Older Persons clearly states that every district should have a centre with all facilities for the elderly. “Once these oldage care centres start functioning, thousands of professionals will be required,” says Indrani Chakraborty, president, Calcutta Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (CMIG). The CMIG (www.cmig.in) offers various long-term and short-term courses in the field.

It is not just in oldage homes that geriatric paramedics will be needed. “They will be in demand everywhere — in hospitals, nursing homes, the corporate sector, non-governmental organisations and even residential complexes where the elderly reside,” says Soumen Gayen of the Society of Geriatric Animators (Sogat), an organisation of people equipped to cater to the needs of the elderly. Sogat has centres across the country from where geriatric professionals can be hired.

The National Institute of Social Defence (NISD), New Delhi — an autonomous body under the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment — has tied up with several institutes, including the CMIG, to offer training in the field of geriatrics. You can either do a postgraduate diploma or a certificate course. The NISD (www.nisd.gov.in) also conducts short-term courses in association with the Centre for Action Research and Training, Bhubaneswar, All Tripura Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Minority Upliftment Council, Agartala, and other such organisations.

The one-year postgraduate diploma offered by the NISD as well as the CMIG is open to graduates in any stream. While the NISD conducts an all-India Common Admission Test (CAT) to select students for its Delhi centre, admission at CMIG is based on merit and an interview. The CMIG’s diploma course in gerontology and age management is recognised by the University of Calcutta.

“Our postgraduate diploma holders get placed almost as soon as they complete the course. The pay packages offered have also been very good,” says Chakraborty. According to Gayen, a diploma holder with a few years of experience can earn Rs 3-4 lakh a year.

Admission to the six-month certificate course run by the NISD in various parts of the country is again based on CAT, conducted in January and July, followed by an interview. The eligibility is matriculation with 45 per cent marks and a minimum age of 18 years. The KMM Academy of Health Sciences (www.geria tricsindiacenter.com), Kochi, Nightingales Medical Trust (www.nightingaleseldercare.com), Bangalore, and PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, are some of the colleges that offer certificate courses in gerontology. The course introduces students to aspects like environment and housing for the elderly, counselling and guidance, diet and rehabilitation, and medicine.

MBBS students who want to specialise in geriatrics can opt for the Madras Medical College, Chennai, or IMA AKN Sinha Institute. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) also offers a distant education course in geriatric medicine.

Chaudhary, who works as a rehabilatator at Calcutta’s Apex Institute of Medical Sciences, says that after a few years of experience, geriatric care professionals can become advisors in the corporate sector or NGOs. “The pay package is not a problem as long as one is focused on getting as much experience as possible in the initial years,” says Sudhir Kumar Behera of the Centre for Action Research and Training, Bhubaneswar.

So if you like spending time with the elderly and have oodles of patience, you could take up geriatrics.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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