Active ageing very important aspect of preventive healthcare
Photocation:L-R-Dr. Tausif Thangalvadi, Medical Director, NURA along with Dr. Anoop Amarnath, Chairman Geriatric Medicine, Manipal Hospitals, Bengaluru addressing the crowd today.
BENGALURU / October 31, 2022: The 60+ demographic segment will account for 20% of the total Indian population by 2050, outnumbering the below 15-year age group. Old age dependency ratio in the country was 90.2% in 2019 and longevity at 70+ years. Enabling seniors to stay active and financially independent through second careers will ease their second innings.
This was said by experts at an event titled “Saksham – Rethink Retirement” jointly organized by Silver Talkies, a social enterprise focusing on seniors and active ageing, and NURA, a collaboration between Fujifilm Healthcare and Dr Kutty’s Healthcare offering AI-enabled imaging in Bengaluru. Manipal Hospitals and Wisdom Circle were event partners.
More than a dozen health and wellness, financial and legal, and second-career experts spoke on themes such as active ageing, lessons learnt from the older generation, financial security for retirees, and second-career options. A book “Rethink Ageing – Lessons in Ageing from the Older & Bolder Generation,” co-authored by Silver Talkies co-founders Reshmi Chakraborty and Nidhi Chawla, was also released at the event that was attended by more than 200 senior citizens.
Speaking about the active ageing mantra for healthy retirement, Nidhi Chawla, Co-founder, Silver Talkies, said: “A prerequisite for healthy and active retirement is healthy body, mind and soul. The concept of active ageing, the foundation of our work, focuses on seven dimensions of wellness – intellectual, physical, social, emotional, spiritual, vocational and environmental. It is our firm belief that active ageing is the most promising and economical form of preventive healthcare. In India, elderly care continues to be neglected. As the population of the retirees increases, we now need to start focusing on their holistic wellbeing and move beyond just focusing on physical health.”
Said Dr. Tausif Thangalvadi, Medical Director, NURA, elaborating on the preventive healthcare screening: “Regular preventive health screening is a low-cost way to add extra years to one’s life, as it can detect many deadly diseases in early stages and the individual can get prompt treatment when the chances of positive outcome are the highest. Prevention is always better than cure. The second-best option is early detection which can save huge amount of money in healthcare expenses later when the disease has progressed to middle or late stages. This is very important for the elderly. Promising oneself to undergo preventive health screening every year, or even earlier, is the best gift that retirees can give themselves to improve their quality of life and reduce dependency on others.”
Added Dr. Anoop Amarnath, Chairman Geriatric Medicine, Manipal Hospitals, Bengaluru: The elderly population is more prone to infections, injuries, psychological problems and degenerative disorders. With ageing, the immune system becomes weak. We need to understand what factors lead to hospitalisation in the elderly and ensure preventive steps are taken.
Said Neeraj Sagar, Founder, WisdomCircle: “Keeping engaged in meaningful work at the pace you want to is very important, which not only helps in reducing the rate of cognitive decline but also gives us opportunities for continuing intergenerational connectivity. We at WisdomCircle are doing our bit to make sure we have enough meaningful roles on our platform for retirees, who we call the ‘Wisdom Generation’. We are amazed at the number of companies that are carving out roles for retirees when we ask them ‘tell us about a problem you are trying to address for which you do not have resources or skills’.”
