Aging in India: challenge for the society

This book examines the problems of
the aged and aging from three main
perspectives: socio-economic,
psychological and health and medical.
The major questions which have been
probed in the book are: what are the
demographic implications of the
better health and living standard for
the aging population? What kind of
social status, economic position and
health elder people enjoy? What are
their major socio-economic
psychological and health problems?
What have been the effects of
modern education, urbanisation,
migration of younger members,
Women's employment etc. on the
conditions of the aged? How the
disintegration of joint family and
development of materialistic and
individualistic out-look affected the
aging members of the family? In what
way the conditions of aged women
differ from that of aged males?
Increased scientific interest in the
aging and aging problems is a recent
development. The demographic shift
attendent upon a far higher rate of
increase in the aging population than
that in general population combined
with withdrawal from work, loss of
income, declining health and above all
gradual disappearance of traditional
kinship and family organisation, which
once provided the aged security and
care, has posed a serious challenge
before the society on one hand and
made the aged helpless, isolated, and
economically dependent on the other
These and similar other problems
faced by the aging population in India
are the major concerns of this book.
The book also offers areas of
strategic intervention and support to
combat the problems of aging and
argues for changing the stereotype
idea about the aged being helpless
and useless in which aged themselves
contribute deal as also for the
need to engaged in
construtive uumunity work.