No One Is Listening to The Elderly

Senior Citizens elderly

                Various studies have been analysed and reported that elderly are mentally vulnerable.  They are psychologically alone, isolated and neglected. They have to live in a truncated social network of the relationship in their family, neighbourhood or in their community. Poor elderly have to work for their survival till their end of life. ‘Theories of ‘cumulative advantage/disadvantage’ suggest that inequalities across the life course underlie the increasing gulf between the well-off and the financially disadvantaged in later life’. On the other hand, rich elderly passes their post retirement life with an aristocracy. It is how they were in their childhood and youth hood as well as adulthood. The social network of the relation of rich elderly is significantly different, and it is full of activities. But the elderly who are neither poor nor rich, how do they pass their post retirement life?

In a qualitative study of urban elderly of medium income group(neither poor no rich group), it has been gravitated that they are typically in adverse condition and they have to pass their days with mental agony. These elderly populations are retired from their work places. They have been settled their residents at urban housing colonies. They have hardly any connection with their natal places because they migrated from their natal places for their occupation since long back. Their economy is somehow good enough because they avail a pension and other social security measures from their work places. Their family size is small. Their whole day is leisure with soft marketing and banking work. They have to live without company of family members or with the help of domestic help.

Their younger family members are busy with their own. They have no time or little time to share with their elder. Further, their relationship with the neighbor is weak because most of them are unknown of different ages. ‘Local environments are especially important for older people who spend most of their time at home and in their neighbourhood; many have low incomes and mobility limitations and do not drive.’So, they form a peer of almost same age group nearby market place of their residents, or at public place like nearby railway station. They meet together regularly at schedule time once daily. They are happy through reminiscing of their sweet memories or they usually gossip with sorrow. They express their inability to make fruitful use of their time. They are unhappy because no one is listening to them. They have huge experiences to share for betterment of younger.

They have to drain their valuable experiences. This mental agony is the cause of hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetic and cardiac arrest and finally they have to face immature death. This situation tells that people would be aged to count their the very last day of precious life.

Harasankar Adhikari is a social activist

 

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