AID TO ELDERLY: HelpAge India launches app to provide help to the senior citizens
On the eve of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, HelpAge India, a charitable organisation working with and for older people, released its national report on elder abuse in India and launched its nationwide emergency elderly helpline app, 'HelpAge SOS'.
The survey revealed that the act of elder abuse is quite prevalent in India and in order to curb this activity, on which a blind eye is turned, the organization has launched this app, Save Our Seniors or SOS to provide help to the senior citizens at a click of a button. The app was launched in the presence of Bollywood actress Shamita Shetty.
India currently has around 112-113 million senior citizens and it is found that in most cases the abuser is their own child, precisely their son and daughter-in-law. The top form of abuses has been disrespect, neglect and verbal abuse.
The survey was conducted in 20 cities consisting of tier one and tier two cities and was focused on the age group of 30-50 years. It revealed that almost 29% of caregivers in the family felt moderate to the severe burden of giving care to an elder while 15% felt a severe burden.
Total of 25.7% caregivers felt fatigued and frustration which resulted in aggressive behaviour towards their older relative and 29% thought that is better to put them in an old age home by paying money and visiting them. Meanwhile, 35% of the caregivers never felt happy looking after their elders and they did so only in the fear of the society.
"Today the abuse is not limited within households. In public places also, people mistreat the elderly by calling them names. Today people are so busy with their phones that they don't find time to talk to their elders. So we have launched a pilot project about digital literacy among senior citizens," said Prakash Borgaonkar, head of HelpAge India, Maharashtra and Goa division.
The app will allow senior citizens to seek help from the organisation. Once they have put forth their grievances, they will be first counselled along with their family members and if the case doesn't see a positive end, then a case will be filed against the caregiver.
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