How These Senior Citizen-Friendly Taxis In Kerala Are Making Life Easier For Elderly People

Moving around from one place to another is not the easiest task for senior citizens, especially those who are not staying with their children. For everything from the regular medical check-up to an occasional visit to some relatives living in some other part of the city, they have to depend on cabs.

But, many senior citizens are often reluctant to book a cab, because they find it difficult to adjust to the behaviour of the driver or the lack of understanding on the part of the driver.

Now, a dedicated cab service for senior citizens in Kochi is making moving around the city a lot easier for the elderly there.

Launched over a couple of years ago as a pilot project by an NGO called Magics, the initiative aims at making life better for aged people.

"This is a part of our mental health enhancement initiative for elderly people. Moving around is one of the most important things to keep them mentally fit," Boniface Jasper, secretary of Magics NGO, told Indiatimes.?

Named "Senior Taxi" the cabs are driven by drivers who are given special training to deal with the needs of aged people.

"It is like a friend, or a relative taking you around in their car. As one can imagine, how friendly and caring they will be to the needs of the elderly, in the same way, our drivers are trained to deal with their passengers," Jasper explained.

Drivers and vehicles were chosen on voluntary basis, and this included both cars and buses.?

"The drivers selected under the programme were given special training by experts in various fields on taking care of the passengers. This includes some basic psychology lesions and basic life support lessons to give first aid, in case of any emergency while on the trip. This was a real confidence booster for the drivers," Jasper said.

Currently there are around 150 senior citizen friendly taxis in Kochi's Paravoor and Maradu and the NGO says they will expand the fleet based on the response they are receiving. The cabs and buses are given "senior taxi" stickers to identify them.

Other than the cab service, keeping in mind the changing times the NGO also gives basic training on online activities for the elderly.

Called "Age-friendly college" the initiative gives a lifelong education for senior citizens through established age-friendly colleges focusing on equipping them to use Computer, Smartphone, online banking etc.

Under this, they are given an opportunity to go back to college, socialize, and also learn basics of online world, which with be taught by a dedicated tutor for every "student".?