Understanding Geriatric Counselling: The Scope of Inclusion in India’s Health Context

Abstract

In the Indian context, majority of the aged individuals are cared/maintained by their own children or their immediate family members. As age advances, a lot of physical and emotional changes seem to put these care givers in dilemma. The lack of awareness on management modalities, day-to-day schedule changes and increasing emotional needs makes geriatric care challenging. In order to tackle the issue appropriately and for maintaining a healthy quality of life, there should be efforts directed towards care givers’ education, opening up communication channels and how to counsel the elderly within a home context. To facilitate further, it is highly recommended to train the care givers in geriatric counselling so as to understand the necessary tips for preventing an emotional breakdown and to use up the resources and remedies available within our community settings. Since there is much scarcity of resources, literature and research that underline the extend of effectiveness of geriatric counselling in India, let us hope that this study will open up a discussion further and may bring fruitful outcomes.