Experts push for training in proper geriatric care

KOLKATA: An 80-year-old woman had a fall in her south Kolkata home because her caregiver was not supporting her in the right manner while taking her to the balcony. This incident has left the elderly confined to bed as she could not be operated on due multiple comorbidities.
Another elderly patient, an 85-year-old who is looked after by a caregiver, died due to asphyxia while being fed.Doctors said this was because the caregiver had fed the Salt Lake resident while he was lying down and the food got stuck in the trachea.
With an increased number of elderly citizens living alone, dependence on caregivers has gone up. Many of these elderly people also have comorbidities. Doctors said training of caretakers or ayahs about proper handling of the elderly has become all the more relevant now. The Geriatric Society of India (GSI) released ‘A guide for geriatric social worker (caregiver)’ during the two-day 17th International Conference on Geriatrics and Gerontology that was flagged on Saturday. The book gives a broad guideline of taking care of elderly citizens physically and mentally. GSI will start a training programme for caregivers who look after the elderly.
The conference is being organised by GSI West Bengal Branch (GSIWB).
“We also come across geriatrics who complain of abuse by caretakers, which leads them into depression. These caretakers need to be trained so that they can physically care for the senior citizens and do it with empathy and professionalism,” said physician Dhires Kumar Chowdhury, media coordinator for the conference.
Chowdhury, who is also a geriatrician with Banchbo — that works for senior citizens — said how an elderly member of the organisation was given an improper dose of sleeping pills by the caregiver.
Doctors said some geriatric patents, like those who are confined to bed or suffer from conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s, and those at home after hospitalisation, need special care.
“We have placed the proposal of training caregivers of elderly people before the national body of GSI, which, on its part, has constituted a committee of three senior geriatricians from across India. Once this committee decides the training module and gives us the green signal, we can launch our training programme,” said geriatrician and diabetologist Aniruddha Dey, assistant secretary, GSI Bengal Branch and convenor from eastern zone.
Conducted virtually, the conference had more than 600 delegates from India, as well as from abroad.