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It was indeed a pleasant surprise that Parsiana, having entered the 61st year of its publication and now officially termed a "senior,” invited me (very much a senior at 80), to share my thoughts about the future of our aging community. 

How do we, as individuals, families and a community, cope with and tend to our elderly? Having been involved in community matters for 37 years, since 1987, I am happy to share my views on what can be done to alleviate the emotional and financial burdens involved.

The community has old age homes in Bombay, Surat and Navsari where Parsi/Irani senior citizens who are in indifferent health and need care on a day-to-day basis are looked after.   

The pressing need is to have more facilities to provide accommodation for senior citizens who are healthy but live alone or in small congested flats along with other family members because they are unable to afford larger homes. The needs of this segment of senior citizens are very different from those who are taken care of in old age homes or infirmaries.

Lack of awareness regarding changing behavioral patterns in the elderly often leads to situations causing major physiological and psychological problems in families. It is not just diseases that affect old age. Old people require supervision. The lack of ability to understand their needs and worries often concerns their younger caregivers and relatives who may then regard seniors as troublesome.

Loneliness, lack of companionship and in some instances inadequate medical care are other issues. Elders suffering from mental challenges undergo serious personality changes which require care and attention. When left unattended, they are gripped with overwhelming feelings of dejection and purposelessness.

Senior members of our community have some facilities created for them such as hospitals and homes for the aged to look after their health and provide shelter. However, there is much more that needs to be done though it is very cost intensive and difficult to provide. 

Every visit to the geriatric ward of a hospital or an old age home arouses strong emotions in us. These help us understand the importance of age, relationships and societal responsibilities. Hospitals and old age homes show how the dynamics of family life have changed.  

Service to the aged is like reading a chapter from a different book filled with residents cherishing their past and making peace with the present. Their eyes, although shadowed by age, sparkle with stories waiting to be told. While some recount tales of joy, others share more poignant life lessons. 

What elders desire is good health, living with dignity, economic independence and eventually a peaceful death. They long to be cared for with love and affection. When people understand their needs and concerns, it keeps them in good spirits, adding to their well-being. Lending emotional support to elders keeps them cheery and healthy.

Unfortunately, for many families providing care and attention to elders is not possible due to contingencies of work.

Present-day lifestyles and mindsets have altered perceptions about aging. The preference for nuclear families over joint families has necessitated the creation of suitable facilities for seniors that would provide a vibrant environment to put life into their days rather than days into their lives.

For a community such as ours with an extremely lopsided demographic profile where seniors outnumber youth, strategizing improvement in the quality of life for the seniors through interventions in areas of financial security, healthcare and nutrition, shelter, protection of life, property and welfare programs is of utmost importance.

Countries around the world have adopted varying standards of providing facilities for their seniors. For the Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian community in India we need to plan additional facilities as per their needs and lifestyles. Senior citizens require varying forms of support based on their needs and circumstances. It is also essential that any new facility, unless it is located on the ground level, should have elevators as well as ramps.

Our seniors opt to live in old age homes for a variety of reasons. Many in good health lack space in small flats where three generations live cramped together. Most residential buildings constructed by charitable trusts, being of ground plus three to four storeys, do not have elevators which makes it impossible for seniors residing on the upper floors to stir out of their flats. Some are unable to cope with loneliness and lack of family support; others have no family members around. In other cases, working members are unable to look after seniors who are often confined to the bed. In some cases the elderly are abandoned by their own families, or choose to live alone.

It is essential that existing institutions are revamped to create additional facilities. If a new institution is being planned for seniors, there is need for precise planning at the initial stage. If the focus is to provide care for those who are more or less confined to bed, the services and facilities required would be very different than what silver seniors who are mobile and able to lead relatively normal lifestyles would require. The former would require nursing and ancillary staff to look after not only their biological needs, but also their medical, dietary and other requirements. To prevent them from slipping into depression, they should be kept informed by reading newspapers, books, as well as counseling, along with regular physiotherapy. Seniors in good health would require routine medical checkups, a nutritious and varied diet, liberty to move around in their cities, visit places of worship and market places located in proximity to their institution. They would also need facilities for indoor games, yoga and physiotherapy sessions. They should be taken on outings to different nearby places, allowed to travel and spend a few days with their families and return, of course, following the rules laid down.

The demographic decline and increase in dependency form a formidable economic challenge which no single institution can handle on its own. It is most essential that all residents, regardless of whether they pay in full or part subscriptions/fees, or even free of charge, are provided the same facilities. This will ensure that all reside with peace of mind, their self-respect and dignity intact at all times. 

Naturally, this would come at a price. Provision would have to be made to ensure that optimum service is not sacrificed because of cost deficiencies. This is a tall order as it would entail that besides the efforts put into running the institution smoothly and effectively, additional funds would be needed from donors to make the institution financially sustainable.

The ground realities of our falling numbers and continuous increase in number of elders vis-à-vis youth have resulted in increasing dependency, the present-day ratio being 1:4 and at times even 1:5 (only one earning member having to look after four or five), resulting in even middle class families facing economic distress. With the increasing switchover to nuclear from joint families it has become imperative to create more residential facilities for seniors that provide accommodation as well as enhanced quality of life.

The people involved in the management of community affairs through punchayets, anjumans, trusts and philanthropists interested in providing a dignified life for senior citizens will need to collaborate and consider collective planning to establish services and financial support for assisted living facilities (geriatric wards at hospitals, homes for the aged who are ill/infirm, senior citizen centers for those in good health but facing limitations of living in cramped quarters) that would provide protection against abuse and neglect.

Since the government has introduced financial concessions to corporates by way of Corporate Social Responsibility, this is an avenue worth exploring so that the benefits extend to the ‘silver economy,’ addressing the present and future needs of our aging population through a multi stakeholder approach and with market-based solutions to some of these challenges. Private sector initiatives to foster innovation, entrepreneurship                   and financing for this emerging sector would open up hidden market opportunities while also adding to the improvement in the quality of life amongst our senior citizens.

The challenges are formidable but they can be overcome if community leadership acts collectively, not individually.

Dinshaw Tamboly is chairman of the WZO (World Zoroastrian Organisation) Trusts that runs centers for senior citizens in Navsari. Former trustee of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, he has been involved in community activities since 1987.