The
sinister shadow of urbanisation, industrialisation, and atomisation of families
has not only deprived the elders of the societal reverence,
traditional family love and care but they are being increasingly neglected and
abused. The problem would exacerbate and reach gargantuan proportion with the
growing size of elderly population, which was 20 million in 1951, 57 million in
1991, 104 million in 2012 and would be over 300 million by the year 2050.
While successive governments have devoted greater part of their focus on
shelter, food and healthcare, especially maternal and child health, the
healthcare of the aged continues in a state of terrible neglect. The deprived,
neglected, abused and abandoned elders whose number continues to swell, suffer
unattended from serious geriatric health and cognitive
disorders. Many senior citizens suffer from the most common form of
dementia-Alzheimer’s disease, a silent tormentor.
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