Geriatric Practice: Its Status in India

Abstract

Geriatrics, a specialty of medicine, started a century ago and is well established in all developed countries. In India, with demographic transition and population ageing, the need for developing geriatric services has been realized in the last four decades. Madras Medical College, Chennai, established the first Department of Geriatric Medicine in 1978. Subsequently, another premier institute of the country, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, also started Geriatric services. A group of physicians constituted a society to highlight the unique need for old-age health care and promote the geriatric practise three decades ago. In the year 1998–2000, WHO and the Government of India started the capacity building of physicians by conducting training of trainer's programmes for the health care of the elderly. The professional body ‘Indian Academy of Geriatrics’ was formed in 2002 to associate health professionals practising the science and art of Geriatrics, to enhance their scientific knowledge about geriatrics; thus improve the quality of healthcare provided to our elderly. As envisaged in the National Policy for the Older Persons, the Government of India rolled out a comprehensive and ambitious National Programme for Health Care of Elderly (NPHCE) in 2011. Under the NPHCE, two National Institutes of Ageing, regional geriatrics centres, and geriatric care facilities for various healthcare delivery levels are being developed. Various NGOs like HelpAge and private institutions are also working to deliver health care for elders at the doorsteps. The scenario of geriatric practice is improving in India; still, there are several challenges like lack of trained healthcare providers.