ST. JOHN’S GERIATRIC CENTRE - A Ray of Hope for the Elderly

Description :

BLESSING CEREMONY OF THE FOUNDATION STONE OF

ST. JOHN'S GERIATRIC CENTRE On 9th MARCH 2021

The foundation stone for the St. John's Geriatric Centre was blessed by Most Rev. George Antonysamy, Chairman, Governing Board of St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences in the presence of the members of the Governing Board, Executives of the Academy, and our supporters and guests at a brief ceremony on Tuesday, 09 March 2021 at 10:30 AM.

The St. John's Geriatric Centre is a unique, standalone facility dedicated to the care of the Elderly. It is intended to be a 65-bed centre for Short-stay Care (4-6 weeks), Training of Geriatric support manpower, Research in Geriatrics and Aging, and a Community Engagement space, which will spark interest and action towards the care of the Elderly.

This facility will come up on a parcel of land located adjacent to the Engineering and Facilities Management (E&FM) Office, behind the Staff Parking Area. Given support, the Centre is expected to be functional by the end of 2022.

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The St John’s Geriatric Centre … What’s that?

The ST JOHN'S GERIATRIC CENTRE is a facility exclusively for Elderly persons on the campus of St John’s Medical College and Hospital, with the following functions:

• -   65-bed standalone care centre for short stays of upto 4-6 weeks,

• -   Community hub for the Elderly and their caregivers with programs of education and empowerment,

• -   Base for Training and Education on Elderly care, and a

• -   Centre for Research on Geriatrics and Aging.

It will stand as a symbol of serenity and confidence for the Elderly and their caregivers, a true “RAY OF HOPE”.

Another Old Age home?

The St John’s Geriatric centre is not an old age home. It is a place for Elders with health problems which are chronic and which require a period of healing, rest and rehabilitation. Such Elders can stay in the centre for periods of upto 4-6 weeks.

 

Who is leading this initiative?

The St John’s Geriatric centre project is being led by a team headed by the Director and Associate Director of St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences. Dr Arvind Kasthuri, Professor of Community Health is driving the project, accompanied by a team of Professionals and Administrators from St John’s, and a team of altruistic External Advisors.

The centre itself will be run by a team of professionals who will work to provide care services for the Elderly, at or over the age of 60. This will include Nurses, Physiotherapists, Counsellors and others who will work together with skilled Physicians drawn from St John’s Medical College and Hospital. St. John’s has been running Rural Geriatric Clinics, Home Health Services, Old-Age Home Support Services and Village Senior Centers (grama hiriyara kendras) since 2005, and a Hospital-based Division of Geriatric Medicine with a daily out-patient Senior Citizen Clinic since 2013. These experiences have seeded the idea and need for the St John’s Geriatric centre.

 

What is the need for a dedicated Geriatric centre at St. John’s? What will it offer?

Today, more than 9% of the Indian population is defined as “Elderly”, aged 60 years and more. This comprises more than 130 million people. The elderly population in India is characterized by irregular utilization of healthcare services due to inaccessibility, immobility, misconceptions, and poverty. The Global Age Watch Index, 2015 that compared elder health status in 91 nations ranked Indian seniors near the bottom, at 76.

Over the years of working with the elderly we have identified areas of need for CARE which this Centre will address. 

• a.    Hospitalised elderly patients, following discharge, many times require additional rest and rehabilitation. This centre will provide transitional care for such patients. 

• b.    Elderly persons sometimes need intermediate care for issues like bedsores and other such ailments, with caregivers finding it difficult top manage. The centre will take care of such patients. 

• c.    Those caregivers requiring respite in order to travel or take a break can keep their elders in the care of the centre for short stays. 

• d.    Day care, for those requiring it, will also be available at the centre. 

While the centre will provide all such services and more, those patients requiring additional medical care or acute medical care will be referred for indoor admissions to the main St . John’s Hospital, on the same campus. Conversely, the doctors and specialities of St John’s hospital will be available to the patients at the centre, should they need their services.

The centre, in keeping with the TRAINING mission of St John’s, will also be a base for training different categories of students and health care personnel on Geriatric care. It will be a base for carrying out need-based RESEARCH, in areas such as cognitive decline, depression, mobility, nutrition, frailty/sarcopenia and cardiovascular disease among others.

In addition, the centre will be a COMMUNITY HUB for Seniors in general. It is planned to have sessions and programs on elder wellness, health, meditation, yoga and motivation based at the centre. Innovative approaches to home health care could be developed based at the centre, and the design of our existing and future outreach services for the elderly could be developed further at this unique facility.

 

Would YOU like to help us?

The St John’s Geriatric Centre aims to be a community-funded initiative with generous support from the leadership at St John’s and philanthropists who have come forward to get us started on this ambitious and much-needed initiative. We are still very far from reaching our funding goals and would deeply appreciate your contribution, however small or large.

The ways in which you can contribute to the St John's Geriatric Centre project include the following: 

• By online transfer through the link provided below.

• By Cheque, made out to “CBCI SOCIETY FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION” sent to the contact address given below with your name and address, so we can send a sec 80g exemption receipt.

• By Bank transfer (NEFT), to the CBCI Society account. Please contact us at the address/ email given below for the bank transfer details.

(Note that all donations are tax exempt under sections 80G/12A of the IT act. The CBCI Society for Medical Education is an FCRA registered entity)

Please write to Dr Arvind Kasthuri, Professor, Department of Community Health, St John’s Medical College, Bangalore 560034 <arvindk@gmail.com> if you wish to know more. We will be happy to talk to you. 

 

Contact:

Dr Arvind Kasthuri, 

Professor, Department of Community Health, 

Team Lead , The St.John's Geriatric Centre Project

St John’s Medical College, Bangalore 560034

Email: arvindk@gmail.com

Phone: +91 98809 02992

Click here to download the brochure

Click here for Indian DONATION