In India, there are nearly 120 million elderly people with various physical, psychosocial, economic, and spiritual problems. While the functionally and cognitively fit elderly can access usual health-care facilities available, these people need an active aging program to keep them independent. This is where geriatric care comes into play.

Geriatrics or geriatric medicine is a speciality that is based on improving health care for elderly people. It supports healthy improvement in older adults by preventing and treating disease and disability that often comes with ageing. Geriatric nursing involves catering help to older adults at their home, hospital or special institutions like the nursing home, psychiatric institution etc.