How coronavirus is affecting India’s elderly

Report released to mark the World Elder Abuse Awareness day is based on a survey of over 3,500 people IT FOUND COVID-19 HAS LED TO AN INCREASED FINANCIAL DEPENDENCY AMONG THE ELDERLY AMID DECREASING INCOME AMONG THEIR CAREGIVERS

NEW DELHI: The elderly people are dealing with a “deep sense of isolation and fear” amid the pandemic, an Ipsos Research report for HelpAge India has found. The report released to mark the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day titled “The Silent Tormentor: Covid 19 & the Elderly” is based on a six-city survey of over 3,500 people. It found Covid-19 has led to an increased financial dependency among the elderly amid decreasing income among their caregivers.

The report has highlighted the increased elderly abuse and how many old-age homes were struggling to stay afloat. It said the elderly people living in the household settings, mostly with their families, wanted someone to just be with them or to just call them to talk. “This when, over 58% of them had family members who were working or studying from home during the pandemic. Even after being in such close proximity to family, many said that they feel trapped and frustrated even in family settings,” the report said.

Almost 40% of the respondents were financially dependent on others and most of them belonged to the age group of 80-89 years. Many respondents said they did not get the required assistance mostly because their caretakers either lost jobs or faced pay cuts.

Most of the elderly surveyed complained of abuse. Though many were verbally abused by their home-restricted family members, 23% of them were even slapped or beaten. Nearly half of these abused people said the main abusers were their sons and while in a quarter of responses, it was daughters-inlaw. Less than 15% said that daughters have been abusive towards them.

Some of the major challenges that caregivers said they faced dealing with their elderly parents or grandparents during the pandemic were giving their medicines on time, taking care of their special food requirements, budgeting for their expenses. Many even said it was highly difficult to handle their mood swings.

Half of the old-age homes that HelpAge surveyed faced scarcity of funds during the pandemic. As many as 37% of them said there were no isolation or quarantine rooms created in their old age homes. In these old-age homes, almost a quarter of the people surveyed said they were abused during the pandemic.

The respondents were misinformed about vaccination with many claiming to be completely immune after getting vaccinated. Over 20% were not even aware of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.

For almost 30% of the elderly people infected at these old age homes, no one from their families approached them to take their care.

Rohit Prasad, CEO of HelpAge India, said while the elderly people have always been identified as the most vulnerable, there is an increased risk of abuse due to growing dependency.