I hardly feel like a senior citizen, though. I still exercise hard every day, get a couple of days of vigorous tennis singles in a week, and go for hikes to the Himalayas regularly. This despite a couple of nasty sporting accidents 30 years ago that resulted in severe nerve damage to my leg.
Yet, I know I can't take my health for granted. I need to work much harder just to stay at the same level of fitness. Recovery isn't as quick as it used to be, and even the mildest transgressions are immediately visible in my increased waistline, soreness, and shortness of breath.
We all need to guard against a drift in health and functionality as we grow older. We tend to accept our inability to do things that we could when younger – and simply attribute it to old age. And therein lies the problem! Our near and dear don't help. They rush to make our lives comfortable by doing the things that we must do for ourselves - little realising that this actually robs us of our ability, independence, and consequently, health.
The affluent have the means to take care of their seniors – there are home based offerings for seniors who cannot take care of themselves independently. And senior care facilities for those that want to retain their independence. But this is a luxury that can’t be afforded by most.
It is estimated that, by 2030, ~ 300 million people or 20% of the Indian population will be seniors. The large majority will be dependent on their children – physically, emotionally and financially. Over 82% of seniors in India stay with their children. Over 70% of seniors are either fully or partially dependent financially upon their children. Only the top 3 % of the Indian population can afford to house seniors separately. When asked by our team of researchers, most seniors articulated the same desire - the desire to be independent and not burden their children.
The key questions are
“How can we keep our elders healthy, happy, independent, and at home”
“What can we do to ensure they enjoy the highest quality of life until the last day”
These questions lead to a complete rethink of our approach and strategy towards senior care. They uncover the need for preemptive action – taking charge before the inevitable loss of health and functionality.
The starting point of this exercise is an objective evaluation of one's health status – and to recognise and correct any drift early. There are 4 parts to this health evaluation
• Physical
• Clinical
• Mental, and
• Functional
Physical health is a set of measured physical parameters - that include body weight, body temperature, blood pressure, respiratory rate, SPO2 , heart rate etc.
Clinical health will require simple blood and urine tests to establish diabetic status, lipid status, cardiac function, Q risk 3, key vitamins & minerals etc.
Mental health will evaluate seniors’ cognitive status, ability to do mental tasks, their outlook to life, and their resolve to stay healthy.
Functional health will assess the ability of the senior to perform simple daily tasks as may be needed from him / her to be independent. These will test strength, mobility and balance – and assess gait, stability and fall risk.
The next step is to build a lifestyle modification plan that takes into account deficiencies spotted in the evaluation, and matches it with resources that are available to the individual and family.
The good news is that all lifestyle modification plans have predominantly 4 components
- Managing one’s weight through a “diet and nutrition” plan – and consequently preventing diabetes, hyper-lipidemia, cardiac and other metabolic diseases.
- Exercise - for weight management, improved cardiovascular output, and functionality. Exercise plans must be holistic and balance cardiovascular, strength, flexibility, and balance. As one gets fitter, one will start enjoying exercise, and push for even more.
- Sleep and stress avoidance
- Smoking cessation
However, no plan is good enough if it isn’t complied with. This is where the role of friends and family is most important – to nudge the senior, join them in health seeking pursuits, encourage them to be independent, celebrate their capability, and support them in the execution of their plans.
As for me, my mantra is to go basic – exercise daily, eat only whole foods – and sparingly, climb stairs instead of taking the elevator, do all the grocery shopping, and walk any distance less than a kilometer instead of taking out the car.
