Caretaking in Today’s World
Life often to the fortunate begins and ends with being taken care of for every one of us. However, at various stages in life we are also put to play the integral role of a caretaker.
For parents, the journey is to take care of their children and mould them into loving and responsible adults. For siblings, the caretaking is for their elderly, with whom there has been a definitive soul connection. Then there are handful who incessantly take care of their family, friends and even colleagues, with much patience and with no expectations what so ever.
However, does the current lifestyle really allow us to take true care of our loved ones is what I often wonder. The more I think it looks like in recent times, as much as one wants to reach out to their loved ones, caretaking has turned more into a challenging task with mounting financial and social pressures.
When I look at the different sections, for example, working mothers with toddlers, there is always a risk of low quality child care. A UNICEF report I came across mentioned that although toddlers growing in childcare centers get exposure to education and social aspects; lack of close contact with parents can make it more difficult for the child to regulate his or her responses to the world. The same applies to the elderly, in terms of getting into psychological issues due to lack of connectedness with their siblings.
Against the backdrop of the economic development, the withering of the joint family system has resulted in a large number of parents caretaking themselves to the extent they can. Often, the younger generation and the demands of their job pull them away from their parental homes leading to long distance care taking. Caretaking an aging parent, while trying to handle other responsibilities is often as difficult as working parents struggling to provide proper care and attention to their child. Added to this, rising health care costs is also a cause of concern to the caretakers as there is a constant demand for preventive health checks and support services that need to be extended to the aging parents. With all these challenges, is it really possible to take genuine care of one’s elderly parents/relatives?
Currently, In India for example, 11% of India’s elderly live alone or with non-relatives. By 2025, it is estimated that 25% of those over 60 and 40% of those over 75 are likely to be living alone. Even if they live together, the elderly are overwhelmed by the new concepts of time and space, and as per the response of the Help Age Foundation survey, they still suffer from loneliness.
Tales of elderly abandonment now have become so common and most have seen or heard of at least one in their lifetime. I am witness to the loneliness of a lady in my very own neighbourhood who animatedly talks each time she meets me, about her son and daughter living overseas and her trips to Dubai and Toronto, but soon after turns to her door in lonely silence.
It is also a fact that many of the elderly prefer and are emotionally comfortable to stay at the home where they spent most life than to an elderly care home.
Advancements in science and technology has increased life expectancy of the elderly through superior medical help and awareness of personal health care. It has even bridged distances with families and friends to an extent, thanks to the connected world. However, quality care and personal time for children or the elderly family member is on a decline, causing caretaking in its natural form to be gradually fading away in many lonely lives.
