New Delhi: Apollo Hospitals, one of Asia’s largest integrated healthcare provider, launched ‘Apollo Elder Care’, a dedicated center for well-being and health of elderly people. The unique Geriatric Care initiative will be a comprehensive center for understanding the medical background of an elderly and offer customized care. In the first phase of the launch, the service will be available across Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi and Bhubaneshwar.
Apollo Elder Care will be a one stop service to address physical, psychological, medicinal and financial concerns of a patient and his caregivers. Apollo Elder Care is a specialized geriatric care initiative where proficient geriatricians and allied medical professionals provide comprehensive geriatric assessment to address all-round needs of a patient and recommend the best suited treatment approach. “Health issues facing the elderly can be very complex and puzzling. The elderly often suffer from more than one medical problem and have conditions that can be obscured by unusual symptoms. At Apollo we felt that elderly care needs a special environment and attention that can help them improve their functional ability, physical health, cognition and mental health”, said Dr Hariprasad, President, Apollo Hospitals Group.
“India is ageing fast as birth rates go down and life expectancy increases; the percentage of elderly population is likely to treble by 2050. The shift in demographics brings in variety of social, economic and healthcare challenges. Healthcare for the elderly needs special attention and government policies. As the body ages, it undergoes many changes and generally become more vulnerable. The purpose behind opening the geriatrics department is to create the special environment suited to the healthcare needs of elderly and offer them best medical services.” said Dr O P Sharma, Senior Consultant – Geriatric Medicine, Apollo Hospitals Delhi.
The dedicated Geriatric Care centres have been divided into four zones-Out Patient Care, In Patient Care, Emergency Care and Home Health Care and will offer comprehensive physical, cognitive and psychosocial assessment, a personal care plan, recommendations to improve health and functional ability, rehabilitation, safe use of medicines and will address home and emergency care for the elderly. “Though population ageing is a global phenomenon, India faces a specific demographic challenge with about 8 percent of the population over the age of 65 in 2014, and with this number is expected to grow up to 20 percent by 2050. This necessitates healthy ageing as a chief prerequisite for the Indian population, and a holistic approach to their health needs is one of the current foci of the Indian health sector”, added Dr Hariprasad. As a latest edge of Apollo Hospitals’ constant thrive to innovate healthcare delivery, and dedicated to the overall health and welfare of the elderly, Apollo Elder Care follows a holistic methodology that employs the best ways to maintain or improve functional ability, physical health, cognition and mental health of our senior populace.
The core treatment facilities available at the centre includes care towards preventing and managing fractures, dizziness (vision care), memory loss, depression, psychological revitalization, vaccinations, fatigue, unsteadiness or weakness, physiotherapy, diet counselling and medicine management.
