Active and Healthy Ageing among Scheduled Tribes

Sajini B Nair; Thara ET

Abstract

Active and Healthy Ageing among Scheduled Tribes

Active ageing is the key word in any debate on ageing
of population around the globe. But research on aging
have seldom considered the plight of marginalized
groups nor tried to quantify the overall wellbeing of
aged among tribal community in India. On this
perspective this paper tries to explore the data
available on tribal elderly population in an attempt to
quantify the active ageing process of the tribal elderly
population in India. Scheduled tribes in India have a
lesser proportion of aged with 6.9% of the population
above 60 years compared to 8.6 among the general
population in India. Employing McGahan composite
index normalization the composite indices is
estimated. The health index values indicate that only
one in ten elderly have good health. Community
participation index depicts a better scenario with more
elderly being scored under the ‘moderate’ and ‘good’
participation index. Distribution of elderly population
by security index shows that ‘good’ security index
values are observed among the medium wealth quintile
category of elderly. Overall the Scheduled Tribe
population in India shows a moderate level of active
ageing. Females are slightly at disadvantage in the
overall active ageing index. Welfare of the tribal
elderly population demands attention in par with the
general population in promoting active ageing among
the tribal elderly population in India. A holistic
approach encompassing health, social, economic and
psychological aspects could be promoted with strong
government support for the active and healthy ageing
of the tribal population in India.
‘Active Ageing’, ‘Healthy Ageing’, ‘Productive
Ageing’ etc are some of the concepts being discussed
greatly in the recent past in India. All these concepts
gained importance with rapid ageing process in the
country and a positive approach to the ageing process.
However, a universal definition to these concepts is
rather difficult to find as these concepts differ
depending on the purpose of the definition. WHO
defines ‘Active Ageing’ as the process of optimizing
opportunities for health, participation and security in
order to enhance quality of life as people age? It
applies to both individuals and population groups
Active ageing encourages the involvement of older
adults in society and highlights the capability and
knowledge that older people own [2]. Healthy ageing
is about “optimizing opportunities for good health, so
that older people can take an active part in society and
enjoy an independent and high quality of life”
(http://www.healthyageing.eu). Robert Butler
introduced the concept of ‘Productive Ageing’ when
he addressed the issue of elderly productivity.
Productive ageing refers to any activity by an elderly
person that contributes to producing goods and
services or develops the capacity to produce them .
Every country in the World is experiencing increase in
aged population both in numbers and proportion. With
increasing numbers of aged population economic and
social changes are essential to ensure progress in
development. These changes are vital in achievement
of the goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development. The SDGs on poverty
eradication, third goal on ensuring healthy lives and
well-being at all ages, promoting gender equality,
decent work and employment for all, reducing
inequalities, and the goal of making sustainable cities
and communities are interlinked and population ageing
is particularly relevant for the achievement of these
goals. As per the World Population Prospects: The
2015 Revision, one in eight people worldwide was
aged 60 years or over in 2015. One in six people
globally would be ‘older persons’ by 2030 as per the
projections which mean an increase of 56 per cent in
This work is partly presented at 15th World Hematology & Immunology Congress December 05-06, 2018 Lisbon,Portugal
Extended Abstract
Vol. 5, Iss.1
2019
Insights in Blood Pressure
the number of aged people (60+ years) in the World
during 2015-30. This will be one in five by the middle
of the twenty-first century. The report shows that
globally, in 2050 the oldest-old (aged 80 years or over)
will number 434 million, having more than tripled in
number since 2015, a growth rate much faster than
growing even faster than the number of aged persons
overall. The ageing process is most advanced in highincome
countries. Japan is home to the World’s most
aged population with a ratio of 1: 33% aged 60 years
or over in 2015. Developing countries are expected to
experience faster pace of population ageing than that
which occurred in developed countries in the past.
India is home to 13% of the World’s older population.
In India, the number of older persons is projected to
grow by 64 per cent during 2015-30 [5]. Aged
population (60+ years) in India as per Census of India
2011 data is 10,38,49,040 which is 8.6% of the total
population. This is an increase from 7.45% in 2001.
Wide interstate variations are observed in the
proportion of aged population. Decreasing fertility and
increasing life expectancy leads to continued ageing of
population. So, in the States that are already into
replacement levels of fertility the proportion of aged
population is higher. Kerala, the first State to achieve
replacement levels of fertility 3 decades earlier (in
1987) has the highest proportion of aged population
(12.6%). Goa (11.2%), Tamil Nadu (10.4%), Punjab
(10.3%) and Himachal Pradesh (10.2%) are closely
placed in the list of States that are rapidly ageing. Such
higher aged population proportional to the total
population raises concerns primarily on quantum of the
active work force population who have to support the
aged population. The immediate concerns are the type
of living arrangement, participation in society, social
security, proportion of elderly with functional
limitations and disability and the disease burden
among the elderly. With increasing longevity and
debilitating chronic diseases, many elder citizens now
need better access to physical infrastructure. So, it is
the geriatric Citation: Nair SB, Thara ET (2018) Active
and Healthy Ageing among Scheduled Tribes in India. J
GerontolGeriatr Res 8: 495. doi:1
Keywords: