Life’s second innings can be as wonderful as the first: Dignity Foundation in association with Columbia Asia Hospital, Pune makes a special effort to help and educate the elderly on how to live healthy lives

Restricted by compulsions of age, bedeviled by debilitating ailments and sometimes lonely, millions of senior citizens in our country are living in the need of a little help and support to be able to live with dignity and feel secure and confident. 

In the absence of productive social support services and experts to lend precious advice, the elderly often feel lost in the world they once lived so confidently in. Changing lifestyles and new technologies often add to their discomfort. However, productive life does not and need to stop at 60.
This is the message Columbia Asia Hospital, Pune wants to drive in with a two-day conference dedicated to helping the elderly live a better life despite their ailments and restrictions. The programme is being held later this week as a joint initiative with Dignity Foundation, an organization that is working to change the way people look at ageing in India and enabling senior citizens lead active lives with easy access to trusted information and social support.
With rising life expectancy, India is adding more and more elderly people to its population. According to an estimate by the United Nations Population Fund by 2050 India will be home to over 15 per cent of the world’s elderly population. In such a scenario we need to build better support systems for elderly that can help them live secure lives independently.
The focus of the programme will be on making lives easier and more productive for senior citizens and innovation in the medical field that do so.
The two days will be packed with lectures and interactive sessions by experts and doctors at Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Memorial Hall, Koregaon Park, who will speak on issues of concern for the elderly. The doctors will offer valuable information and advice on how to lead a good quality of life despite diabetes; safeguarding the heart in the second innings; and raising awareness about strokes and orthopedic care. They will also talk about the importance of physical fitness for senior citizens.
“Often our elderly live secluded lives, mostly barricaded in their homes, stepping out only for important things, with little systemic support to help them as an important segment of the population. We believe we need to create an environment where they feel secure and cared and protected and are well informed about how to take care of themselves. This conference will help bring together the senior citizens of Puneto such a platform,” says Dr Sunil Rao, General Manager, Columbia Asia Hospital, Pune. Dr Rao will officially inaugurate the two-day program on Saturday

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“Senior citizens in our country are very vulnerable as their social life is often curtailed and health compulsions restrict them from leading completely normal lives. A lot of elderly live alone in cities like Pune as their children are working in other cities or other countries. However, we do not have any structural or institutional support to help them and keep them well informed about healthcare concerns that may arise in their lives. Our organization worksto fill in this void of a support and help provider and we are glad our two-day conference is providing such a platform to the senior citizens of the city,” says Disha Barve, Head of Dignity Foundation, Pune.
The doctors who are among the speakers at the programme include Dr Chandrakant Rao, Senior Diabetologist; Dr Saba Siddiqui, Ophthalmologist; Dr Amit Sinkar, Cardiologist; Dr Sujit Jagtap, Neorologist; Dr Sinukumar Bhaskaran, Orthopedician; Dr Esther Sathiaraj, Dietician and Mr Andre Blaise Mascarenhas, Physiotherapist. You can register at .