Contextual Research

secondary research

We never had such a high proportion of older people in our society, According to a 2016 report by the ministry for statistics and program implementation, India has 103.9 million elderly people above age 60 which is about 8.5 per cent of the population (reliant on the 2011 census), is expected to go up to 19 % in 2050. The number is set to grow three-fold from around 100 million at present to 300 million by 2050. The country now faces the major challenge of how to take care of such a large population of senior citizens.

Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. People retire after a certain age, once they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, or when bodily conditions no longer allow the person to work any longer. The idea behind a mandatory retirement age was to remove the work burden of older people. But it affects older people's right to work if they so choose. They may experience a loss of both status and income on retirement. They may also miss the social contact of their working days and the feeling of making a contribution to society.

Elders are the living history of society and we really need to see the elderly as a potential learning medium, rather than as a burden. Strategies and systems put in place to benefit the elderly by utilizing their knowledge, skills and experience can also help in the socio-economic development of the country. We should have such an environment with facilities and services to suit their personal need, capacity and taste. Today’s youth should be able to plan for their happy old age and today’s elders should get dignified and care for a life full of happiness.

The study revolves around understanding the problems of elderly relevant in the current context of the urban cities.

Studying the causes

Changing Family Structure

The traditional Indian society with an age-old joint family system has been instrumental in safeguarding the social and economic security of the elderly people. However with the emerging prevalence of nuclear family set-ups in recent years, the elderly are likely to be exposed to emotional, physical and financial insecurity in the years to come.

Economic Dependency

As per the 52nd round of the National Sample Survey Organization, nearly half of the elderly are fully dependent on others, while another 20 per cent is partially dependent for their economic needs. Elderly often do not have financial protection such as sufficient pension and other forms of social security in India.

Social Inequality

Elderly are a heterogeneous section with an urban and rural divide. They are less vulnerable in rural areas as compared to their urban counterparts, due to the still holding values of the joint family system.

Understanding the city

The city consists of 115 government offices among which 8 are major government offices employing a large number of population of Gandhinagar

A large number of the population residing in the city consist of government employees settled in the city who are currently working or have retired from government jobs.

• A clean atmosphere with lesser pollution levels

• A safe environment in the city

• National educational Institutes

• Well built Infrastructure & Open public spaces

• Clubs

• Public parks

• Day care centers

• Old age homes

• Temples

• Road side benches

Why Gandhinagar?

The people who were involved in the ‘capital project’ of Gandhinagar and people who worked in the Sachivalay or the Udyog Bhavan had to move to the city due to their jobs. All the people who were employed to work for building the capital city were in their early late 30s or 40s. Now this whole lot of population has retired and the city is not populated with elderly population.
The elderly account for more than 7.6% of the total population as per the census reports of 2011 and the no. of elderly has been rapidly increasing because of abundance of retiring govt. Officials residing in the area.

primary research

Field Visits

We approached the eldery in different settings and interacted with them to understand their needs, issues, wants, problems, expectations and desires.

We mapped down the things that were most desirable by the elderly from our conversations and with them.

Inferences from Primary Research

Why elderly?

Older workers can bring a wealth of experience and can therefore be useful to an organisation. The assumption that productivity declines with age is factually wrong. Research in many industrialized countries shows clearly that productivity does not diminish with age.

Qualities attributed to the elderly

Market research

Jobs 60 Plus is a platform run by the Nightingale Empowerment Trust, which provides jobs and conducts training workshops for seniors to make them eligible for post-retirement jobs.
Silver Talkies launched a senior citizens’ club in Indiranagar, “The idea is to provide a conducive space for networking and allowing seniors to find peers with similar interests. This will create opportunities for them to guide and support each other based on professional or experience-related expertise.”
Training and intergenerational learning is being facilitated in places like Hong Kong through Elderly Academies which encourage older people to take part in education while normalising older people’s place in the classroom for young students.
NotRetired.in is an exclusive platform for the Retired persons and soon to Retire officers. Our objective is to provide multiple opportunities for the officers who are looking to lend their services for the betterment of society. Job opportunities vary from working full time, part time acting as consultant or advisory in Multinational Corporations (MNC), Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMSE), Startups Non-Government Organizations (NGO) and Not for Profit organizations. At NotRetired.in, we are constantly working to get on board various organizations that are looking for active and visionary leaders in helping them make better decisions and grow successfully
Umbrella, a service that helps older adults stay in their homes by connecting them to a vetted group of mostly retired handy-people who help them with chores that can become more difficult with age. Umbrella’s part-time workforce ranges from age 25 to 72, while customers range from age 65 to 98.
Senior Citizens Bangalore, a group with over 70 elders and the oldest member being 92 years old. “Group members devote about five hours a week distributing food to schools, medicines to old age homes, tending to patients with terminal illnesses and offering scholarships to underprivileged school students”
Oasis is a pioneer in healthy aging Founded in 1982, Oasis is a non-profit educational organization that is active in over 250 communities and reaches more than 50,000 individuals each year.Our mission is to promote healthy aging through lifelong learning, active lifestyles and volunteer engagement. Our vision is to see that adults age 50 and older across the country have opportunities to pursue vibrant, healthy, productive and meaningful lives.We seek to positively impact their lives through partnerships to share knowledge, offer evidence- and research-based programs, conduct evaluations and adapt to meet the needs of diverse audiences.
HUM has received messages from retired senior citizens as well as from children who are looking for employment opportunities for their parents or relatives. Their objective is simple–to get jobs for senior citizens who want them! Rarely do we understand the knowledge bank that the experiences of senior citizens carry.
Ageingnepal.org To link ageing population and societal development by treating ageing as an opportunity for development. To establish sustainable system of social protection to guard against poverty in old age. To promote healthy, active and productive ageing through promotion of volunteerism among elders in particular,To meet the growing demands for access to quality health care, including long-term care for the elderly. Empowerment of elders and promotion of their rights, Generate research based information to help policy makers and planners, Produce trained human resources in the field of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Take proactive measures against abuse and exploitation of elders, Work as watch-dog to safe guard the interests of ageing population. As elders are the living history of a society, it is important to utilize their knowledge, skills and experience for socio-economic development.
SeniorNet's mission is to provide older adults education for and access to computer technologies to enhance their lives and enable them to share their knowledge and wisdom.

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