PUNE: To improve the status of older people and increase their inclusiveness in society, School for Development and Impact (SDI), a Delhi-based NGO has implemented a project in two slums in the city.

“With increasing economic pressures and shifting family roles, traditional ways of caring for the elderly have become difficult to maintain, leaving many senior citizens without a support system,” said SDI CEO Benazir Patil, adding, “We will be carrying out the project in Kasturba Vasahat and Indira Vasahat in Pune city.” 

“In this project, we work with 515 elderly women and men, with a model that focuses on building social support structures, resilience and inter-generational discourse with the youths,” she said, adding that the aim was to enhance awareness on needs of seniors and increase support through an intergenerational approach.

“We have formulated Vriddhanchi Anganwadi, a centre for senior citizens. We conduct group sessions on Yoga, healthcare, art and trainings for livelihood generation,” said Patil. Besides providing them multi-vitamins, diapers, walkers, hearing air and other items. 

“We help in linkages with government schemes for health, livelihood, nutrition and pensions,” she said. 

Organizing health check-up sessions for specific problems like NCDs, eye-care and orthopedic and  building volunteer and community support mechanisms are part of the project,” she added. 

SDI’s other initiatives include development of multi-sectoral engagement for healthy ageing framework for the  World Health Organization (WHO) for 2020-2030, which is called the ‘Decade of Healthy Ageing’. The SDI also started ‘Making Pune an age-friendly city’.