After suffering a personal setback, our member, Mr Roy, shifted to a home for the elderly away from the city. He refrained from keeping in touch with his friends and relatives.

After suffering a personal setback, our member, Mr Roy, shifted to a home for the elderly away from the city. He refrained from keeping in touch with his friends and relatives.

The Support Elders Enriching Cognitive Solutions (ECS) team organised a picnic for its members near the retirement home where Mr Roy resided and persuaded him to join in. He admitted having enjoyed himself there. A month later, he was invited to participate in the Basanta Utsav. The interaction with the other members rekindled his passion for writing. He started to contribute to the newsletter and write blogs for our website.

Three months on, he has become one of the most active members among the ECS subscribers. Mr Roy searches the internet and goes through reference books to seriously prepare for the topic taken up at every discussion event that is organised by the Support Elders team.

But the most rewarding thing for us is that the regular ECS events have made Mr Roy move back to his own house in the city though he visits the old-age home occasionally. It shows how much faith and trust he has in Support Elders. And we feel honoured by that.

Support Elders Impact: ECS enhances our members’ lives

Though our members, Mr and Ms Basu, took passport renewal interview appointments online with Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), Kolkata, for the same day, yet the PSK allotted them separate time slots.

Though our members, Mr and Ms Basu, took passport renewal interview appointments online with Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), Kolkata, for the same day, yet the PSK allotted them separate time slots.

A Member Care Associate accompanied the couple to the PSK on the scheduled date and seated them in the waiting lounge. But the electronic board displayed that they would be interviewed at separate counters and time slots. It was a tricky situation because it implied that the Member Care Associate would have to queue up on behalf of the couple at two separate counters during the afternoon rush hour. Else, one member would miss the interview, leading to unnecessary harassment.

The Member Care Associate, an ex-serviceman, managed the difficult situation with considerable tact, running up and down between the two counters, located far apart, and persuading PSK officers and other interviewees to let Mr and Ms Basu advance in queue. By the end of the day, both Mr and Ms Basu completed their respective passport renewal interviews smoothly.

The couple lauded the efforts of the Member Care Associate and were happy to have enrolled as members of Support Elders.

Support Elders Impact: Smooth experience ensured for our members, no matter what

Wing Commander Mukherjee was due for an audiometry evaluation for the past five months. However, the necessary tests kept getting deferred. Finally, a Member Care Associate escorted the Mukherjee couple to Command Hospital. At 90, the member suffers from orthopaedic problems in his spine and legs because of which he cannot walk long distances. His hearing difficulty poses another challenge for him.

On reaching the hospital, our staff realised that the stairs to the ENT department were closer for Wng Cdr Mukherjee than reaching the elevator. Supporting Wng Cdr Mukherjee carefully, the Member Care Associate took him upstairs with considerable effort. He made the couple sit in the waiting lobby and went in search of the audiometry room.

The Member Care Associate located the room at the other end of the floor. There, the technician was busy examining another patient. So, the Member Care Associate requested him to carry his instruments to a room closer to where the Wng Cdr was sitting and test him there. The technician refused, citing protocol. The Member Care Associate offered to get permission for the shift. But the technician was adamant.

Finally, the Member Care Associate was forced to reveal that he was an ex-army paramedic with 20 years of experience and was well-conversant with the operations at the defence hospital. That made the technician relent. The Mukherjees were very thankful that they did not have to walk across the sprawling floor.

During the hearing test, the Member Care Associate facilitated the Wng Cdr’s conversation with his son over the phone. Testing over, he escorted the member downstairs with utmost care and seated him in the car.

Ms Mukherjee remarked that had it not been for Support Elders, she could not have taken her husband for the long overdue audiometry test without which he could not get a hearing aid.

Support Elders Impact: Ensuring hassle-free hospital visit for member

Ms Mukherjee lives in a flat in a housing society on the southern fringes of Kolkata. She tries to live as best as she can, given her age and delicate health. Living within her limited means, she did not hire a cook to prepare her meals. Thus, every night, she was much dependent on the building security guard to fetch her dinner from nearby eateries. Unfortunately for her, there would be days the guard would ignore her calls, forcing Ms Mukherjee to skip dinner and make do with a glass of water. That she was hard of hearing only made things worse.

Support Elders came into Ms Mukherjee’s life around that time. The caring staff started taking good care of her and even fixed a food delivery centre, which would regularly supply her dinner.

Once when Ms Mukherjee had to go on a short trip, she sent instructions to the food delivery centre to suspend her delivery service for a few days. After she came back, she suddenly realised that there was no food at home and that she had forgotten to intimate the food delivery centre to resume their service.

Ms Mukherjee, who isn’t very comfortable with the mobile phone, became nervous and did not know what to do or whom to call. She felt helpless and hassled. Thankfully for her, the Support Elders National Alarm Centre called to check on her as part of their routine daily call. Ms Mukherjee told our staff member of her predicament. The staff member listened to her problem and calmed her down, saying that Support Elders will take care of the situation. In a while, a Support Elders staff member landed up at her doorstep with steaming hot dinner.

Support Elders Impact: Service with thought