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15 Health of the Elderly in India: Challenges of Access and Affordability--Subhojit Dey, Devaki Nambiar, J. K. Lakshmi, Kabir Sheikh, and K. Srinath Reddy
Pages 371-386

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From page 371...
... Projected estimates of population structure in 2025 for North India retain a "pyra midal" shape, while for south India, the share of the elderly population is expected to expand considerably. Linear growth in the population of the elderly is expected in the next 100 years, with steeper gradients of increase in central and east India and leveling off of absolute numbers of elderly in the north, south, west, and northeast (Aliyar and Rajan, 2008)
From page 372...
... An analysis of morbidity patterns by age clearly indicates that the elderly experience a greater burden of ailments (which the National Sample Survey Organisation defines as illness, sickness, injury, and poisoning) compared to other age groups (see National Sample Survey Organisation, 2006, Fig.
From page 373...
... More detailed studies are needed, other than surveys, to extract information on the epidemiology of health conditions experienced by the elderly. This mixed disease burden among the Indian elderly places unique demands on the country's public healthcare system.
From page 374...
... was developed by the study authors with the col laborative assistance of two research assistants. All researchers undertook a literature review, drawing upon key informant experts in health systems research, government policy clearinghouses, and a review of scholarly journal articles, books, and program documentation comprising nongovernmental organization and government reports, presentations, and documents.
From page 375...
... Finally, high school gradu ates were twice as likely in UP and four times as likely in Maharashtra to seek treatment compared to the illiterate group. However, in the above-mentioned study, a majority of the elderly suffered from mul tiple morbidity conditions, which makes interpreting the presented results difficult.
From page 376...
... . In 2007, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill raised the profile of such practices, issu ing penalties for abuse and neglect of elders exacted by members of their extended/joint family.
From page 377...
... Such cases were therefore not considered the purview of health professionals and were more frequently acknowl edged and addressed by community health workers. Access to mental health services in the medical sector are limited, and, thus, most care and support was provided ad hoc, informally, and in the family.
From page 378...
... found in a tertiary care facility that almost one-quarter of elderly patients engaged in potentially inappropriate medication use and, further, that the drug profile among the elderly is more varied than gold standard (Beer's) criteria used to assess medication use.
From page 379...
... . NSS data show that more than twice the number of male elderly own property or assets compared to female elderly in both urban and rural areas, a difference that is moderated by socioeconomic status (i.e., lower strata have greater gender disparities in property ownership)
From page 380...
... However, insurance in India is limited not only by its low coverage of conditions, but also by low coverage of populations. The National Family Health Survey of 2004–2005 indicates that only 10% of households in India had at least one member of the family covered by any form of health insurance (IIPS, 2007)
From page 381...
... Situating elderly health in a broader framework of universal access and affordability of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has potential to trans form the structural conditions that hamper the well-being of the aged.
From page 382...
... Health affordability constraints include limitations in income, employment, and assets, as well as the limitations of financial protection offered for health expenditures in the Indian health system. Among the most significant findings that emerged in developing this review was the incompleteness of data on the burdens of access and affordability among elderly populations in India.
From page 383...
... . Many routine data collection procedures (National Sample Surveys, Census data, or death certificates)
From page 384...
... : A com parison of successive rounds of National Sample Survey data. Munich Personal RePEc Archive.
From page 385...
... . Living arrangements among Indian elderly: New evidence from National Family Health Survey.
From page 386...
... . Use of potentially inappropriate medicines in elderly: A prospective study in medicine out-patient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital.


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