Services that provide seniors short stays away from home are on the rise in Chennai

‘Out of Hospital’ services for senior citizens that offer services like Rehabilitation, Palliative Care, and Dementia Care is picking up. Some of them function like a day care for those without any medical condition

On some days, when she is travelling on account of work, Ashok Nagar resident Nandhini Rangarajan is reassured her octogenarian mother stays in a “creche-like” atmosphere away from home. Thanks to a daycare cum residential facility for senior citizens in T Nagar, Nandhini, a busy professional, need not curtain her work-related travel.

“My mom is 86 years old, mobile and independent, but has borderline dementia. She is faced with instability while walking and tends to fall back, and therefore, I prefer sending her to ‘Samarpan’ to calling a nurse home, when I have to travel on short-duration work trips,” says Nandhini.

Across India, Tamil Nadu is among states with a sizeable percentage of senior citizens. As per a report ‘Elderly in India 2021” released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, senior citizens accounted for 13.6% of Tamil Nadu’s population in 2021. It is projected that this figure would go up to 18.2% in 2031. Therefore, it is not surprising the ‘elder care’ market is growing in Tamil Nadu, with a particular presence in Chennai.

Bengaluru-based Kites Senior Care, Samarpan by RMD Group of Hospitals and Helpee Lifestyle by Helpee are among the new entrants in the market. The first two have set up centres in T Nagar, and the other, in Anna Nagar.

Geri Care; Srina Healthcare; Aayushka and Athulya Living are among the other players in the assisted living segment.

They specialise in offering post-hospitalisation rehabilitation, palliative care and dementia care. They also open their doors to those who do not have any major medical condition that calls for assisted living, but who want to be in the company of people their age.

Social well-being