E-Paper
Good Samaritans: Assisting senior citizens free of cost in Pune
Volunteers of non-registered forums such as ‘Salisbury Park Residence Forum’ in the city are offering care facilities to 80 such senior citizens
Sujata Patil, 67, is a diabetic patient who also suffers from knee pain. Her condition has taken a toll on her day-to-day activities. It also which makes it difficult for her to visit the hospital alone. However, with the help of a volunteer, she is able to complete these otherwise difficult tasks.
As families go nuclear, lack of care for elderly parents is becoming a reality for many. Volunteers of non-registered forums such as ‘Salisbury Park Residence Forum’ in the city are offering care facilities to 80 such senior citizens in the premises. The forum is made up of 20 volunteers who work for 80 senior citizens.
According to needs of every senior citizen, a volunteer of the forum will come over to their residence once every few days to take them to the doctor, go with them to the bank or go grocery shopping or sometimes just lend a listening ear.
“We are still new to this concept, but we had to be practical as we have our own family member to take care of,” adds Patil.
Other than helping them, volunteers read newspapers and magazines to senior citizens, engage in discussions and debates and help them make calls and keeps doctor appointments. It has been two months and the forum is offering such kind of care free of cost to the senior citizens living in their housing societies.
The forum has also appealed to more volunteers to join them in serving the senior citizens in their society.
“This idea came to mind during the time of Diwali 2018. Senior citizens require help in everyday tasks. After finalising our proposal we formulated a group of 20 volunteers and 80 senior citizens initially, ”said Faisal Poonawala, chairman of forum.
According to forum members, every volunteer is incharge of three to four senior citizens. The forum has culminated a list of primary and secondary volunteers, responsible for every senior citizen. In case of an emergency, if the concerned helper is unavailable, the forum has a secondary volunteer ready.
The senior citizen who needs help is also informed about who is going to come over to help them out.
While allocating volunteers to senior citizens, the forum keeps in mind the age and sex of the senior citizen. Volunteers are also prohibited from interfering in the financial transactions of the senior citizens. “For security purposes,we have collected legal documents of all volunteers. We do not share the contact information of any of the senior citizens, without their prior permission,”said Gopalswamy Bhaskar, secretary of forum.
