Counsel seniors to keep them young

Over the last few years, Coimbatore has emerged as senior citizens' paradise with well-equipped homes coming up exclusively for the elderly.

While the homes offer palatable food, cosy shelter and emergency medical care, the "psychological health" of the inmates is sometimes neglected, say experts.

Dr S. Ananth, psychiatrist of Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, told DC that retirement homes should have counsellors as part of retirement homes as they help identify the psychological changes in the aged that call for medical intervention.

Screening for mental health of the elderly needs to pick up in India. "Senior citizens are more amenable to psychiatrists as they look forward to company and ears to listen," he said.

Most of those in the retirement homes have lost their spous and live a lonely life. Their cognitive skills are on the decline and their mental functioning is only 40 per cent of what it normally is. Many show signs of depression and border on mild dementia especially when they are over 70 years of age.

Lack of participation in daily life and absence of activities that can keep their brain working may be detrimental to their mental health. It is important for the aged to engage themselves in activities like solving Sudoku or solving math fun way or cracking puzzles to keep their brain active.

Late onset of psychosis is yet another issue that is seen amongst the inmates in homes and this is a result of sensory impairment in terms of vision and hearing, said Dr D. Srinivasan, psychiatrist, Kovai medical centre and hospital. When they are unable to see or hear properly, they start hallucinating that the world is out to harm them and this eventually develops as secondary delusion.

Vanitha Rangaraj, founder and chairperson of Preetham for senior citizens at Pollachi, said the home has a full-time counsellor who interacts with the inmates of the home, several of whom are parents of NRIs. Mental health is given as much important as physical health, she said.