Kolkata is gradually becoming a city for the elderly and so the need for providing better home health and elder care services is increasing. The city was earlier dependent only on Ayah agencies with dubious credentials to serve the frail, sick and seniors at home. Ayahs are basically domestic aids who do not mind doing the cleaning and washing for patients because they can make more money doing so than cooking doing general laundry. With no supervision and absolutely no standards, this way of supporting the elderly is hardly what we want, for our loved ones. This naturally necessitated the rise of elder care services Kolkata in 2019.
Taking care of seniors at home is one of the biggest agendas of young people who have obtained jobs outside the city or the country
Thankfully, over the past 5 years, some national as well as regional companies have forayed into the home health space of the city. Companies such as Portea and Healthcare at Home have tied up with some private hospitals in the city to provide home health services for their patients. Support Elders, a local elder care services Kolkata, has companions (mostly young boys) who can assist with outdoor visits, shopping, banking etc. Care Continuum, started by the city’s own doctors, runs a specialized membership plan for the elderly which is a single window service for their physical, psychological, and social needs, through trained care providers.
Several old age homes & elder care services Kolkata have also come up in and around the city to offer accommodation for the elderly. Most notable among them is Snehodiya, an initiative by the Government of West Bengal Government, recently launched in Rajarhat. In the last year or so, several new companies claiming to serve the elderly have come up, but their antecedents as well as the scope of their services appears to be vague. As a conscious customer, one should always verify the antecedents of the providers before selecting the service to ensure a minimum standard of care as well as reliability of the caregivers.
Good healthcare at home is not cheap. An untrained individual or even a elder care services Kolkata lacking professional leadership, does not insist on the basic knowledge and skills necessary to safely care for a frail, forgetful and fearful senior who is living alone. Seniors have several challenges, some of which are problems in hearing, speech, eyesight, movement, feeding & sleeping. They are also used to a certain set pattern of life, which when disturbed causes a lot of anxiety and anger. A dependable home health company is one which focuses on well behaved, compassionate, patient and trustworthy caregivers who have sufficient training in eldercare as well as basic first aid. Only then, can we hope to term such elder care services Kolkata as good.