Current activities
certificate course in counseling and guidance for geriatric care
As a person ages, physical, psychological, emotional, social and economic issues are likely to crop up and hinder the peaceful old age life. Immobility, instability, incontinence and impaired intellect/ memory gradually ruins their life efficiency and various Geriatric syndromes specific to aging such as dementia, depression, delirium, vertigo, fear of falling and falls followed by spontaneous bone fractures are likely to occur. Due to these disorders, it is seen that majority of the elderly population are facing feelings of depression, frustration and alienation.
Centre for Gerontological Studies in association with Sree Narayana College, Chempazhanthy, Thiruvananthapuram is offering a Skill Based Certificate Course on Counselling and Guidance for Geriatric Care to bring out a bunch of trained professionals who are well equipped in providing assistance to the health care needs of elderly, whether in hospitals, palliative care centres, old age homes or in residential homes.
Multi service elder care centre
This has been a major recommendation of the Colloquium which found that such a centre will go a long way in relieving the family of much of the burden of care giving and will make the old kin more acceptable. On their part, the old kin also will find that the Elder Care Centre will provide a variety of services which they will require but which the family may not be able to provide. The Centre for Gerontological Studies is pushing this concept and has prepared a proposal for this and is looking around for prospective sponsors.
helpline & counselling centre for elderly
Ever since the First National Seminar on Elder Abuse in India, which the Centre organized in Trivandrum in November 2004, a helpline on elder abuse has been established in our Centre largely to cater to the increasing needs of those who suffer abuse from kin. We enlisted the services of professional psychologists and social workers to counsel the clients. Since our services were free, there were innumerable takers for this. We now have a regular counseling unit which extends counseling not only to the old with problems from family members but also to the abusers who are sometimes children. Finally, the Government of Kerala recognized our work and sanctioned financial support for the Unit in 2016.
Our clients come through our helplines. We have enlisted the services of the police department, the legal community and the residents’ associations for dealing with the issues. It has now become an established, routinized and highly priced activity of the centre. Over the years, the focus of counseling has moved from abuse to many other areas where the old or their care givers have problems relating to age management issues.
Collaboration with the University of Kerala
Centre for Gerontological Studies has entered into an MOU with the University of Kerala for jointly organizing studies, research and extension programmes. The staff and students of both institutions work together on many teaching and research programmes.
Collaboration with the garop
The Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons (GAROP) functioning in New York is making a global study to bring the rights of older persons to the attention of the governments of member countries of the United Nations Organisation and to work towards the holding of a Convention on The Rights of Older Persons. The Centre for Gerontological Studies is a partner of this global study. The study involves inter alia organizing active senior citizens in different parts of the country into groups and using them for sensitizing their Government for pressurizing the United Nations Organisation to enact appropriate legislation for the human rights of older persons at the International level. Work in this regard is in progress.
Currently the Centre is collaborating with GAROP in organizing an Asia Pacific Regional Workshop on Older Persons to be held in Thiruvananthapuram on November 13 and 14, 2019. Around 50 delegates from Asia an other regions of the world are expected to participate in this Workshop.
