National study reveals 47% elderly are dependent on family support
10 % respondents report being victims of elder abuse. The survey was conducted in 22 cities across the country
Visakhapatnam : The national study carried out by the HelpAge India, a non-governmental organisation that works for the elderly, indicated that 47 percent of the elderly are completely dependent on family support as their source of income, while 57 percent of them feel financially insecure at national level.
In the survey report of 'bridge the gap: understanding elder needs' released on Tuesday on the eve of the 'World Elder Abuse Awareness Day', the report showed 36 percent of the elderly are willing to work among which 40 percent want to work as long as possible.
About 87 percent of the elderly reported having health facilities but only 52 percent of them could access them. The report showed that 67 percent of the group does not have any health insurance. In Amaravati, the report revealed, 70.4 percent senior citizens reported being financially secured, while 26.1 percent of the elderly are willing to work beyond retirement.
Even though 82 percent of the elderly are living with their families, 59 percent of them mention that they want their family members to spend more time with them and 57 percent of them informed that they want their family members to stay with them.
The survey was conducted across 22 cities, including Amaravati, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, taking the views of 4,399 elder respondents and 2,200 young adult caregivers across the cities into consideration.
Post Covid-19 pandemic, the need for better health protection has strongly emerged with 49 percent elderly expressing their aspiration for improved health, through better health insurance and better health facilities. There needs to be an inherent systemic investment in elder healthcare with more elder-friendly facilities and healthcare schemes for elders, the study said.
Nationwide, 10 percent of the respondents said they were victims of abuse and 59 percent of them feel that elder abuse is prevalent in society, while Amaravati recorded a marginal percent of elder abuse victims with 4.5 percent.