Living and the health conditions of elderly people in kaalvankarai slum at saidapet- chennai city

Senior citizen means any person being a citizen of India who has attained the age of sixty years or above. Aging is the process of becoming old or growing aged. Obtaining blessings from the elderly of the house before commencing any task or function is a tradition in Indian culture. Elders possess a vast experience in different walks of life. Their practical wisdom and experience would be a source of inspiration and learning for young generations. They right advice to achieve greater heights. They are our great teachers: we learn from them. They are our inspiration: we imitate their enriched life. They are our blessings: We see God’s grace-being fulfilled in our lives in and through them. It is a boon to have our elderly parents stay at home with us. They are role models for our children. They provide us moral support, encouragement, and spiritual support. Our children are safe when they are present at home. They knit the family together even though we face hardships and strained relationship with our relatives and neigh bours. Therefore, today’s you gain the strength and will power from the senior citizens in taking the individual, family, community, society and nation to greater heights. Elders need to be taken care of by the younger generations. They need to be protected and their life and stay needs to be ensured. Considering them as part/ asset of the family, obeying the decisions taken by the elderly, respecting their presence will enhance the youngsters to preserve the family structure as an institution. Therefore, May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back,May the sun shine warm upon your face; The rains fall soft upon your fields, May God hold you in the palm of His hand. The elderly living in Kaalvankaraiare uneducated, poor, unemployed and are low waged laborers. They are deprived of love and support from the family and the society. They are considered as burden, because they are not bread winners of the family anymore. They are denied of a dignified living in the society and more particularly in their families. They face ill health due to malnutrition. Many women are anaemic and suffer huge loss of weight. They suffer from improper medications, deprived of portable drinking water, proper sanitation and hygiene. Apart from this the slum dwellers face housing problems, poverty, proper education, pollution, diseases and sicknesses and chronic infections. These problems create the health and hygiene related problems. Unhealthy conditions are created in slums due to absence of public facilities. Malnutrition, infectious diseases, traffic accidents, violence, heart diseases are some of the major concerns recorded in the area of our study. Our findings from the study area highlighted that42 percent of the elders are unemployed and are not in a position to work. Most of them are slum dwellers and 90 percent is illiterates. Majority of the elders in the slum (53 percent) having the habit of chewing tobacco. Predominant health issues identified among the elderly in the study area were heart related problems (11%), cancer (07%), strokes problems (12%), and lung related problems (06%). Due to rise in the elderly population in the slum, there is an urgent need to provide better health care facilities like mobile health clinic services which would bring about a healing and better health status in the life of the elderly who are otherwise unfortunate.