Dhires Kumar Chowdhury
Geriatrician and Geriatric Activist,
India
Abstract Title:
Multidisciplinary Home Healthcare: Emerging Needs in Geriatric Long-Term Care Models Insights from the Indian Elderly Care Scenario
Biography:
I am Dr. Dhires Kumar Chowdhury, a geriatrician and community elder-care advocate, Fellow of Geriatric Society of India, National Committee Member Home Care Association of India
with more than 19 years of experience in multidisciplinary home-based geriatric healthcare in Kolkata, India. As the Founder Director of Banchbo Healing Touch Foundation (www.bhtf.org), I have been working to develop compassionate, accessible and holistic
long-term care models for elderly individuals, particularly the bedridden, frail and socially vulnerable population. My work emphasizes integrated medical, nursing, rehabilitative and psychosocial support within home settings. I am also actively involved in geriatric awareness, caregiver training and strengthening community geriatric services to promote dignified and person-centered ageing care in India.
Research Interests:
India is undergoing a major demographic transition with a rapidly expanding ageing population and increasing burden of chronic diseases, frailty, disability and dependency among older adults. According to recent WHO estimates, India currently has nearly 156 million people aged 60 years and above, constituting around 11% of the total population, and this proportion is projected to rise to 21% by 2050. Simultaneously, increasing longevity, nuclear family structures, migration of younger generations and inadequate long-term care infrastructure are creating significant gaps in elderly support systems across the country.
In this evolving healthcare landscape, multidisciplinary home healthcare has emerged as a crucial and sustainable long-term care model, particularly for low-resource and densely populated urban settings like Kolkata, India. This presentation reflects the practical experiences and community-based observations accumulated over 19+ years of providing comprehensive home-based geriatric care through an integrated multidisciplinary approach.
The care model focuses on holistic, person-centered and continuity-based support delivered by geriatric physicians, other specialists especially geriatric dentistry, psychiatry, trained nurses, physiotherapists, yoga therapists, speech/swallow therapists, psychologists, nutritionists, caregivers and social support teams within the home environment. The approach has demonstrated substantial benefits in improving quality of life, functional independence, treatment adherence, emotional well-being and caregiver confidence while reducing avoidable hospitalizations and financial burden on families.
The model has shown particular effectiveness among bedridden elderly individuals, dementia patients, stroke survivors, palliative care recipients and socially vulnerable older adults. Emerging Indian data also indicate increasing prevalence of undiagnosed chronic illnesses, disability and dependency among older persons, highlighting the urgent need for structured community geriatric services and long-term care systems.
This abstract emphasizes the urgent necessity for scalable, culturally sensitive and multidisciplinary home healthcare models in India to bridge the gap between hospital-based treatment and community long-term care, ensuring dignified, accessible and holistic ageing support for the rapidly growing elderly population.
Keywords:
#longtermcare #geriatriccare #homehealthcare #geriatriccaremodel #communitygeriatrics
