Aged care services in India : challenges and opportunities for Australian aged care service providers

India is the world's largest democracy and second most populous country with nearly 1.4 billion people. With reduced birth rates and increasing lifespans, it had nearly 104 million ‘senior citizens' in 2011, expected to grow to 300 million by 2050. Providing care for the elderly in India is a growing public and private concern. Filial piety is embedded in culture and long-term care for parents and the elderly is expected from children. However, over the last five decades there have been rapid changes in socioeconomic patterns with increasing mobility for work and rise of nuclear households. Despite this, elder care is still largely underdeveloped, with lack of formal training in geriatric care and geriatric care curriculum in medical education. Australia has a highly evolved elderly care system with care services that includes retirement villages, home care, residential care, and flexible care. These are provided by subsidization from the government and private user pay system. Australia is well poised to provide aged care expertise and services and shape elderly care in India