NPNC

NPNC

Neuropsychological Nurturance Center is a center for senior citizens where they can learn various activities, make new friends and sharpen their minds.

Dr. Shubha Thatte, renowned psychologist and founder and trustee of IPH used to write a column in the local newspaper ‘Maharashtra Times’, addressing letters from senior citizens. During this time, considering the problems raised and expressed by many of the senior citizens, she felt a strong need to explore the factors leading to dissatisfaction in old age. It culminated into a project called SAGE (Satisfied Aging) in 2014 -2016.

500 senior citizens participated in this project. It was found that almost 87 % of these senior citizens had a very active life till the age of 60. They had not planned their retirement & were not engaged in any kind of cognitively stimulating activities thereafter. While one plans finances for retired life and old age, it is equally important to focus on making those years comfortable, cognitively alert & happy. This was found to be a missing piece of retirement planning for most. This finding clearly highlights the need for intervention, focused on cognitive stimulation of the elderly.

The Tridal Hangout aims at developing resilience in the older population and providing them with a structured platform to achieve these skills and empower them towards healthy aging.

Why the Senior Citizen Day Care Center?

Aging is one of the greatest global social and economic challenges of the twenty-first century. As a result of increased longevity and better healthcare infrastructure, a large population is reaching old age in our community. The process of aging is profoundly heterogeneous, with great variations in the lived experiences of individuals’ physical, social and psychological functioning throughout life. Striving for high levels of functioning across these many domains of life is a central goal of healthy aging. Models of ‘Successful Aging' are varied, but focus on the avoidance of negative aspects of aging, e.g., morbidity, as well as the fostering of positive aspects, e.g., active engagement (Cosco et al. 2014a). IPH’s Saptasopan Activity Center for senior citizens was one such novel idea to tap this rich resource. Saptasopan is a Neuropsychological Nurturance Centre for Senior Citizens. The Saptasopan Activity Center was started in 2018 and has been running successfully since then. It is different from any other day care center or a senior citizen club. It runs a structured activity schedule with focus on learning and keeping oneself mentally fit and active.