‘Depression among elderly in India higher than the world average’

LUCKNOW: Loneliness and depression are an emerging health care challenge among elders with about 21.9% of them suffering from depression at some point in their life, say experts.

Swadeep Srivastava, managing partner of the India Virtual Hospital (IVH) ‘Senior Care’, an online platform for assisting patients, said in a press statement on Saturday, “Elderly population is expected to rise to 340 million by 2050 and at present the percentage of depression among elderly in India is higher than the world average of 4% to 16%.”

According to WHO report, people above 55 years of age with depression are four times more likely to die of a stroke or heart attack in comparison to their non-depressive counterparts. He said that elderly population was expected to rise to 340 million by 2050. The numbers are higher than UN projection of 316.8 million and a clear indication that India is greying faster than expected. “In the rapidly growing home care and eldercare market, a reliable and trustworthy resource provider was missing. We closed this gap by incorporating the values of ex-defence personnel in the home care industry. A sturdy mixture of healthcare experts and ex-defence personnel is our biggest differentiator. IVH Senior Care is committed to complete well being of elders and our social interaction services are our initiative to fight elderly loneliness and depression,” he said.

“The projections have raised a very important question for the healthcare sector. Is it prepared to deliver quality care to the growing elderly population? Old age comes with its own challenges and elderly depression is an emerging healthcare challenge for India,” he said.