THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the lines of the state-sponsored care for the elderly that is available in Canada, UK and other developed nations, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) as part of the National Programme for the Health Care for the Elderly (NPHCE), will launch clinics for geriatric care, which will be a boon to the ageing population of the state. ‘’The first lot of geriatric clinics will be set up in Pathanamthitta district along with the launch of the national programme for the prevention of non-communicable diseases,’’ said Health Secretary Rajeev Sadanandan. While a total of five districts will be covered in the next year, the whole state is expected to have regular geriatric clinics at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) level in a couple of years. The General Hospital at Pathanamthitta will not only have a geriatric clinic but also a geriatric ward with 10 beds for in patient care for the elderly. There will be facilities for laboratory investigations for diagnosis and provision of medicines for geriatric medical and health problems. Existing specialities like general medicine, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, ENT will also provide services required by the elderly patients. While the elderly suffer from multiple and chronic diseases, they need long term and constant care. ‘’As the immobile and disabled elderly need care close to their homes, family health care providers from the sub-centre will give special attention to bed-ridden elderly patients, provide linkage with other support groups and day care centres that are operational in the area and arrange for callipers and supportive devices from primary health centres to make them mobile,’’ said Dr S Hafiz, state nodal officer of the NPHCE. The Primary Health Centres will run weekly geriatric clinics, maintain a record of the elderly right from the first visit, conduct routine health assessment of the elderly persons based on simple clinical examination, give proper advice on chronic ailments and create public awareness. The Community Health Centres on the other hand will run geriatric clinics twice a week and will have a rehabilitation unit for physiotherapy and counselling. Additional staff such as the rehabilitation workers and physiotherapists will be freshly recruited. For severe and complicated geriatric cases that cannot be handled at the PHC, CHC or the district hospital, they can be referred to one of the eight regional geriatric centres in the country.
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