Trained caregivers for the elderly, whose role is crucial in the recuperation and well-being of a large section of the geriatric population, are hard to find, doctors in the city have red-flagged.
At present, most people hire caregivers from local centres but many of them lack the sensitivity and empathy required for the job.
Over the past few years, dozens of centres that advertise expertise in caregiving have mushroomed across the city and on its outskirts.
But most of the people these centres send to homes lack these qualities, said the doctors.
There are some bigger organisations that provide caregivers with better training but the money they charge is not affordable to a large number of people.
“The combination of well-trained but affordable caregivers is hard to find,” said a Kolkatan who recently had to look for such personnel for her parents.
The demand for trained caregivers will only increase as the ageing population rises and younger people migrate to other cities for work.
The problem is not restricted to Kolkata and its suburbs.
Even the rural areas have elderly people staying on their own as their children have left the state in search of work.
A doctor said most of the focus so far has been only on the treatment inside hospitals but recuperation needs good care at home and that is missing in India. He suggested that it was time to start discussions about whether medical insurance should start covering home-based care.
“There is an immense need for well-trained caregivers, something that is lacking. A large number of the elderly people need to be treated and taken care of at their homes,” said Arunansu Talukdar, head of geriatric medicine at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital at a conference here on Friday.
Talukdar added that a doctor would see the patient at regular intervals but the medication and other rehabilitation prescribed by the doctor had to be executed at home.
A good number of those above 80 years old will have issues with mobility. Besides, ailments like stroke and cancer require long-term care, much of which has to be done at home. Those who have their children or other relatives living with them may not face a problem but many others would.
Many elderly people have to take multiple medicines in a day and they tend to forget the chronology or even some of the medicines that need to be consumed.
A good caregiver would be patient and remind the person of the medicines to be taken and not show frustration even if the same mistake is repeated.
“Even one’s own children would end up annoyed but a good caregiver will not do that,” said a doctor.
This is where training comes into play.
Kaushik Sundar, neurologist at Narayana Health which runs RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, said “sensitivity and empathy” are the two most important qualities required in caregiving.
“Hospitalisation is a scary and horrific process even for the young, let alone the elderly. It leaves scars on one’s mind. When they go back home, the caregiver has to create that feeling of comfort and safety. The elderly person must feel assured in the presence of the caregiver,” Sundar, who has to treat many elderly people with neurological diseases, told Metro on Saturday.
He said caregivers must try to make the person independent in the process.
Sundar said it was time a discussion started on whether home-based care should come under insurance coverage.
Another doctor said very few people have a pension post-retirement and the rest depend on money earned during their working age.
Many people might not be able to provide for caregivers if the cost was not affordable or if insurance did not cover it, he added.
Doctors also spoke about the need to regulate “the caregiving industry”, its training and course content.