According to Dr PT Shivakumar, Additional Professor of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, a higher proportion of the elderly has subsyndromal mental health issues requiring psychosocial support. “Awareness and education about mental health are the key mechanisms through which mental health concerns can be identified and appropriate measures be taken. Caregivers and community workers need to look out for those signs. Therefore, the role of community-based systems is vital in addressing the issue,” he said.

He added that this collaboration will help impart training to various categories of non-specialised health workers and community caregivers through a customised module for each category.

It will be an online course where training will be given to various categories of non-specialised health workers and community care givers through customised modules for each specified category, such as the Non-Specialist health work force, Informal Caregivers and Institutional Caregivers.

Inaugurating the initiative, Dr Vinod K Paul, Member NITI Aayog, said that trained professionals would go a long way in providing much needed care to the people. “The psychiatrist scarcity in the country is worrying. Steps are being taken by the government to correct this, such as augmentation of psychiatry seats and emphasising nursing care. Primary healthcare takes care of 90% of health problems that do not need specialists. A graded care model such as this is much required,” he added.

Rumjhum Chatterjee, Vice-Chairperson, HelpAge India, said that over 20% of adults aged 60 and above suffer from a mental or neurological disorder, with the most common disorders being dementia and depression. “In June 2021, HelpAge undertook a study in the midst of the pandemic; in a sample size of about 5,000 people, 60 per cent reported feeling loneliness or issues of isolation and 40% were already very depressed. This requires urgent attention as the problem is going to multiply,” she added.

According to the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) report, by 2050, 14 million senior citizens in India would be impacted by mental health issues, from five million now. “This is a staggering number and we have some serious challenges as a nation to manage this. Today, only 2 out 10 older persons suffering from mental disorders are receiving any kind of support. While we need approximately 13,000 psychiatrists to address these issues, we have only 3,500, which translates to 1 psychiatrist attending to over 2 lakh people,” Chatterjee added further.