In a crucial move meant to strengthen the geriatric care in India, VridhCare Quality of Life Foundation India, a humanitarian not-for-profit organisation that works for the welfare of the senior citizens, has facilitated the setting up of specialised physiotherapy units across several old-age homes. This initiative has been made possible through partnerships with large corporations across India who are engaged with CSR activities, including Muthoot Finance, Dabur India Limited, Blue Star and TPA Services Pvt. Ltd., among others, with the objective of addressing the critical gap in the rehabilitation services for the country’s growing elderly population.
This comes at a time when India is grappling with a rapid shift in its demography. According to the India Ageing Report, 2025, the elderly population, people over the age of 60, now make up roughly 12.6 percent of the total population. This figure is expected to almost double by the year 2050. Despite this troubling surge, national data highlights an overwhelming shortfall in dedicated geriatric rehabilitative infrastructure.
Several reported trends from 2026 suggest that while the government has authorised over 700 district hospital units for geriatric care, the actual availability of internal physiotherapy units within both the private and government-run old-age homes remains very low. In the absence of this localised intervention, nearly 60 percent of the residents suffer from chronic mobility issues that lead to a higher incidence of falls and long-term disabilities.
The initiative is in line with the government of India’s National Programme for Healthcare of the Elderly (NPHCE) and the Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC). These policies call for a community-based primary healthcare approach that places emphasis on rehabilitative care.
Gargi Lakhanpal, director, VridhCare, said: “Geriatric care is not only about medical treatment. It is more about restoring the dignity, ensuring improved quality of life and bringing a sense of independence to people who long for it, but are helpless to do anything about it on their own. These physiotherapy units will allow the residents quick, timely access to the critical facilities, avoiding the need to go long distances for such physical treatments”.
This initiative will also empower and educate the caregivers who are key pillars in ensuring the elderly’s well-being. Because they spend maximum time with them, it is important that they are aware of the significance of physiotherapy. Also, in the process, they become physiotherapist themselves in practical ways, thereby, removing the long-term dependence on professional physiotherapists.
Muthoot Finance has sponsored physio units at Devashya Abhilasha Vridh Ashram in Haridwar, as well as Adharshila Old-Age Home in Prayagraj. Dabur India Limited has stepped in to modernise the unit at Shanti Bhawan in Delhi. TPA Services Pvt. Ltd. has provided critical support to Mann ka Tilak in New Delhi.
Blue Star Limited has significantly expanded this effort, extending support to a network of old-age homes that include Aatm Samman Vridhashram in Jaipur, Senior Citizens Homes in Chandigarh, Aabha Aabhas in Delhi. They are also in the process to set up the units at Ashray in Kolkata, Amma Nanna Old-Age Home in Hyderabad and Deepashri Geriatric Center in Bengaluru, among others.
In many Homes, the shortage of rehabilitation opportunities leads to joint stiffness, muscle weakness and increased dependency. The establishment of these physiotherapy units offers a long-term solution by providing personalized exercise plans tailored to individual needs, pain management through therapies for arthritis and other related issues and mental well-being by encouraging social interactions through group sessions, which helps in combating the issues of isolation and the degeneration in mental abilities.
