Home Health Care: The Missing Link in Health Delivery System for Indian Elderly Population—A Narrative Review

Abstract

Elderly population in India is at a disadvantageous position in comparison to other countries in matters of dedicated health facilities, health insurance, and geriatric specialist. Health issues of the elderly can be summarized as geriatric syndromes, cogni- tive decline, immobility, falls, and incontinence. These peculiar health characteristics of old age population can be better dealt with home health care, which is of recent origin in India and is limited to only metro cities in the private sector. Whereas home health care in the USA is present from over a century, in Europe it is present in most of the countries. This study presents the status of existing private home health care industry of India and advocates about the benefits of home health care for the elderly and supports that Indian policymaking bodies should incorporate home health care in its policy for improving access and quality of health care to elderly population