Adopt programmes for aged care and rehabilitation, says US expert

Panchkula, March 26/Kulbir Kalsi / Developing countries like India are going to be saddled with a huge aged population in the coming decades and the sooner these countries adopt programmes of aged care and rehabilitation the better for them in curtailing the huge burden of health care resources expected to be eaten up by them.Addressing mediapersons at Alchemist Hospital here an Indian-origin U.S. expert in aged care and rehabilitation Dr Kanwardeep Singh pointed out that though in percentage terms the aged population (above 60 years of age) in India may currently be much less than in some of the advanced countries like US, Japan, Sweden, etc, the sheer size of the Indian population makes the volume of aged population a far more daunting task than in the advanced countries. Eminent cardiac surgeon and Executive Director of Alchemist Hospitals, Dr Inderjit Singh Virdi was also present.Dr Kanwardeep Singh, who is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Geriatrics at the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, U.S.A., revealed that from the current roughly 8 percentage aged people in the country’s population, this figure is expected to grow to 15 percent and more in the next 50 years. We have to start preparing for it right now by adopting a model of aged care and rehabilitation best suited to our requirements from among the various models in vogue in the advanced countries. He informed that the traditional “fee for service” outpatient model of care in the US has not delivered the recommended standard of care to older adults for preventive services, chronic disease management, and geriatric syndromes. So, a more proactive, patient-centered, and population-based approach is needed to improve the overall quality of geriatric care. Several innovative outpatient care systems have been developed over the past two decades, he added.  State governments in this region need to act fast since states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and Union territory of Chandigarh have among the highest percentages of aged populations in the country only after Kerala and Tamil Nadu.  (Presentation attached).

Giving the example of his own 91 year old father, who was apparently suffering from Alzheimer’s disease but could not be diagnosed in India despite the best of neorologists and MRIs and scans being used on him, Dr Virdi said Dr Kanwardeep Singh was able to diagnose the disease in no time and he has now been remarkably rehabilitated and is leading a much better quality of life.“We urgently need Geriatrics experts to shape programmes for the aged care and rehabilitation in India with the help of the states and central government. We, at Alchemist Hospitals, have made a beginning in this direction by generating awareness first among our doctors, nursing and other support staff  by organising presentations by Dr Kanwardeep Singh. He has also agreed on start consultant programme through teleconferencing for aged care and rehabilitation at the Alchemist Hospital,” Dr Virdi said.