Ageing Issues in India by Mala Kapur Shankardass

Ageing Issues in India by Mala Kapur Shankardass

This book explores various practices and policies related to ageing issues in India. It addresses ageing concerns from a theoretical and empirical viewpoint with in-depth analyses of existential dimensions of ageing. It provides deep insights into ageing in India by discussing demographics related to health and social differentials, gender concerns, retirement problems, epidemiological transition taking place in the country with rising problem of dementia and mental health problems. It consists of 23 chapters written by various established as well as upcoming scholars in the field. The authors cover a broad range of topics with regard to provisions for institutional care, geriatric practice and emerging issues of elder abuse. The book will appeal to professionals and to lay people getting interested in ageing India from a social, health, gender, economic, psychological and emotional aspects.

Dr. Mala Kapur Shankardass, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Maitreyi College, University of Delhi (South Campus), New Delhi. A trained sociologist, health social scientist and gerontologist she consults with United Nations agencies and other international and national organizations in India and abroad on ageing, gender, health, and development issues. She holds the International Network for Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) Chair for Asia and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Adult Protection and the Polish Social Gerontology Journal. She is a member of the governing body of the Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India, Delhi Chapter and a Resource Person with a number of government and non-government organizations and institutions in India; a member of the advisory board for Gerontology, published by Cambridge Scholarly Publishing, United Kingdom; and a member of the National Advisory Board of the Journal of Indian Academy of Geriatrics. She was one of the experts involved in the formulation of the National Policy for Older Persons in India in 1998-99 and was nominated as a member of the State Council for Older Persons constituted by the Delhi State Government in 2010-2011. She is has been a member of the Core Group on Protection and Welfare of the Elderly Persons, founded by the National Human Rights Commission, since 2010.

Dr Shankardass has published numerous articles in respected journals, magazines, newspapers and books in India and abroad. Her books include Growing Old in India: Voices Reveal and Statistics Speak (2004); and Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly in India (co-edited, Springer). She takes part in media discussions on socially relevant topics for prime television and radio channels, and is a life member of the Indian Sociological Society, Indian Association of Gerontology, and Indian Association of Social Science and Health.