Essays

Longevity Risk: Financial Security and Pensions

15th October, 2022

India is an uneven social economy. On one hand, the GDP is rising to compete with global leaders, and on the other hand, being categorized as a lower middle income country, it is grappling with resources to fund its social protection systems. Government funded social pension schemes continue to the only protection against old age poverty for millions of elderly. Pension reforms, which started in early 2000s, with a focus on the large informal workforce, has received mixed reviews.

Longevity Dividend & The 100 Year Life

12th June, 2022

People are living longer thanks to advances in medicine, public health and other factors. Is living longer a gift or a curse? Is longevity dividend real? How are countries, socities, businesses and individuals adapting to it? What happens if we all live till 100 years? This essay is broken into two sections – the first one providing the Indian context from demographic forecasts, and the second on how we can redesign lives for a 100 year lifespan.

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA): A Quick Review

22nd May, 2022

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (GCA) is a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary screening exercise to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the health and social care needs of an older adult. This understanding helps plan and intervene in various aspects, clinical and non-clinical, thus ensuring a quality of life best suited to the older adult.

Retirement Planning vs Longevity Planning

23rd April, 2022

Longevity planning, an emerging field, helps ensure a high quality of life through various stages of life. Such plans may vary from one individual to another depending on how one perceives ageing and doesn’t necessarily follow binaries (work vs retirement, active vs passive life, medical care vs long term care, etc.), and thus more personalized, evolutionary and dynamic in nature. These particular aspects also makes longevity planning more complex as it requires multi-dimensional thinking and involves more than just good financial planning.

Palliative Care in India: A pain free path towards better Quality of Life

16th October, 2021

Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families who are facing problems associated with life-threatening illness. Policies and efforts towards revamping medical education, expanding public health and community health interventions, and overall improvement in health systems are key factors driving palliative care in India, and the movement towards a more integrated and holistice health(care) ecosystem.

Dementia Care in India: Resources and Care Networks

17th September, 2021

Dementia is a group of symptoms that occur due to damage or impairment of the brain cells. Impaired memory, thinking, language, prolonged comprehension, judgement, decision-making and orientation are all commonly experienced while suffering from the disease. In this essay, we look at key reports, studies and care networks serving people living with dementia, their families and caregivers.

Long Term Care in India: Key Drivers

1st August, 2021

Long-term care (LTC) refers to support that is needed by older persons with limited ability to care for themselves due to physical or mental conditions, including chronic diseases and multimorbidity. In this essay, we will look at four drivers of long-term care in the Indian scenario.

Silver Generation: The Original Disruptors

17th July, 2021

Catering to the silver generation is not about just meeting their needs but also stepping up to fulfill their aspirations and building an age-friendly society. This essay attempts to address two questions – (a) can we define the Indian silver generation beyond headline numbers?, and (b) how can we classify silver (focused) ventures out there?

Longevity Impacts on Retirement Plannning

3rd July, 2021

Planning for retirement is different from planning for a better quality of life. Apart from sound financial health and informed planning, it is also important to consider options associated with age-linked medical costs other later life transitions. The emerging area of longevity finance can tie the many moving parts to help an individual navigate the future in a more secure way.

Future of Ageing: An India Perspective

17th June, 2021

This essay captures evolution of international and national policies towards older adults (since the 1990s) and identifies key themes that are likely to drive the Silver Economy in India in the coming years.