Bangalore: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) has started a collaborative community-based venture, Saarthak with HelpAge India for the mental well-being of the elderly with technical support from the National Program for Health Care of Elderly.
Sarthak is a collaborative effort to provide psychiatric support to senior citizens who, unfortunately, got affected by fatal medical problems like depression and dementia. Under the periphery of the collaborative initiative, nurses, healthcare workers, and volunteers will be provided expert training on geriatric mental health.
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According to Dr. PT Shivakumar, Additional Professor of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, a great number of elderly people suffer from subsyndromal mental health issues and they are in need of psychosocial support. "Awareness and education about mental health are the key mechanisms through which mental health concerns can be identified, and appropriate measures be taken. Caregivers and community workers need to look out for those signs. Therefore, the role of community-based systems is vital in addressing the issue," he said.
A customised module will be created for each type of non-specialized health workers and community caregiver as part of this collaboration. Under the online course, some customized modules will be arranged addressing different categories where training will be given for each specified category, such as the Non-Specialist health workforce, Informal Caregivers and Institutional Caregivers, reports The Indian Express
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During the inauguration, Dr. Vinod K. Paul, a member of NITI Aayog stated that skilled experts will go a long way in providing the people with much-needed care. "The psychiatrist scarcity in the country is worrying. Steps are being taken by the government to correct this, such as augmentation of psychiatry seats and emphasising nursing care. Primary healthcare takes care of 90% of health problems that do not need specialists. A graded care model such as this is much required," he added.
Rumjhum Chatterjee, Vice-Chairperson, of HelpAge India, said that depression and dementia are the two conditions that affect more than 20% of persons who are 60 years of age and older."In June 2021, HelpAge undertook a study in the midst of the pandemic; in a sample size of about 5,000 people, 60 percent reported feeling loneliness or issues of isolation and 40% were already very depressed. This requires urgent attention as the problem is going to multiply," she added.
The Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) report estimates that by 2050, 14 million older adults in India, up from the current five million, will experience mental health concerns. "This is a staggering number and we have some serious challenges as a nation to manage this. Today, only 2 out of 10 older persons suffering from mental disorders are receiving any kind of support. While we need approximately 13,000 psychiatrists to address these issues, we have only 3,500, which translates to 1 psychiatrist attending to over 2 lakh people," Chatterjee added further.

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