Expert Tips On Making Ageing At Home Easier And More Convenient

Here is all you need to know about making ageing at home easier and convenient. 

As we grow older and start living alone, ageing at home in the best way possible becomes important. Keeping this in mind, Silver Talkies and Max Life Insurance presented a dialogue on AGEING AT HOME, the second edition of Silver Talkies’ quarterly knowledge series, AHA – Adopting Healthy Ageing on February 27 at Bangalore International Centre (BIC), Domlur. The panel of 11 experts from across the senior care industry discussed ageing at home and the alternative options available, for both senior citizens and caregivers.

The panellists included Vaibhav Tewari, COO, Portea Medical; Naresh V Narasimhan, architect and managing partner at Venkatramanan Associates who have created senior citizen-friendly homes; Sohail Khan, director, EvrCare Services India Pvt. Ltd., an on-demand assistance service to help senior citizens with transportation, house needs and social experiences and Madhusudhan Gad, financial advisor from Max Life Insurance.

Four Primary Requirements of Living Alone At Home For Seniors

According to experts, the four primary requirements of a senior living alone at home are:

1. Accessibility to healthcare at home.

2. Making the home fit and appropriate for senior citizens to reside conveniently.

3. Getting assistance in day-to-day activities like conveyance, social engagement and other needs at home.

4. Financial guidance to enable seniors to manage their finances wisely post-retirement.

Here are some further expert guidelines:

Vaibhav Tewari on the importance of home healthcare

For seniors living independently and alone, it is essential to make sure that they can avail healthcare facilities and services right at the doorstep starting from diagnostic services, regular check-up services, preventive healthcare services and palliative healthcare services for those who are suffering from any kind of chronic conditions. Home healthcare makes life easier and stress-free for senior citizens,”

Naresh V Narasimhan on the necessity to make homes convenient for senior living

While building a new home or making renovations, everyone must realise the need to make arrangements for senior citizens to reside safely at home. Instead of using Italian marble flooring and slippery tiles in the bathrooms, make sure you have textured vinyl on the floor to make the floor surface rough to prevent an accidental fall, use adequate lighting to ensure a senior citizen gets proper light to move about without any hassle, keep provision and enough area (5 feet turning radius) to accommodate a wheelchair and smoothly turn it around as per necessity, make use of chair lifts along the railings of the staircase and 3M stickers on bathroom floors to alert seniors about slippery floors.

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Sohail Khan on why senior citizens living alone need daily assistance

As of today, 1 out of every 5 parents in India lives alone. Almost 80% of all senior citizens in India feel isolated and depressed in some phase of their life after 50. They not only suffer from chronic loneliness but also need assistance in small chores for which they have to rely on strangers that may lead to safety issues. Technology also acts as a deterrent as they are not abreast with the new platforms. Instead of making their lives easier, it becomes an additional hassle to use technology.

Madhusudhan Gad on post-retirement finance

Senior citizens face a wide range of issues in terms of finance, especially post-retirement. They are not aware of the appropriate investments that can generate maximum revenue, neither are they pro in managing their budgetary concerns or their assets. Nor are they in the habit of consulting a professional for the same. All they do is worry about money during old age. It is essential for them to be completely aware of the finance-related issues as money is all that they need to have active, healthy ageing at home.

The three-hour-long session left a group of over 100 senior citizens satisfied who went back home with ideas of making their ageing at home more convenient.