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A Study of Old Age Homes in the Care of

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A STUDY OF OLD AGE HOMES IN THE CARE OF
THE ELDERLY IN GUJARAT
Project Report prepared by N.P. Das
Urvi Shah
Population Research Centre
Department of Statistics
Faculty of Science
M.S. University of Baroda
Baroda-390 002
December 2004
PROJECT TEAM
|Dr. N.P. Das, Ph.D., D.P.S. |
|Director |
| |

Research Investigator/Field Investigator
|Saroj Bhavsar, M.Sc. …show more content…

The size of the elderly rose in absolute terms during the last century from 12 million in 1901 to approximately 71 million in 2001 and is likely to reach 113 million in 2016. Yet another feature of ageing in India is the fact that the proportion of elderly is much higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas. The sex-wise pattern of growth of elderly population reveals that the increase is greater among women in the recent past, which indicates that elderly women will outnumber elderly men in the future.
There is therefore an urgent need to examine the various aspects of this new and fast growing population to ensure the design of appropriate policy and programmes directed to meet the varied needs of this vulnerable and dependent group. India, like many traditional societies, today faces a unique situation in providing care for its elderly as the existing old-age support structures in the form of family, kith and kin, are fast eroding and the elderly are ill-equipped to cope alone with their lives in the face of infirmity and disability. The onus of caring for the elderly is therefore now much more on the state than the family and will necessitate the creation of adequate institutional support. While the western countries have a fairly well organised network of institutions for the care of the elderly, the growth and

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