Elder care for your ageing parents: Which services can you get at what cost and what you need to ask before picking a service provider

When Arpita Bhayani’s mother was diagnosed with dementia in September 2024, the initial shock gave way to spiralling concern. Not just because Bhayani and her brother stay abroad and their parents live independently in Gurugram, but also because of their fragile ages—while mother Archana Chakravarti is 84, father Pranab Kumar is 90. Since Bhayani was determined to find a solution that would ensure their parents’ safety and her own peace of mind, in October she contacted Samarth Eldercare, the Gurugram-based company she had heard of through a friend.

“We didn’t just want carers, but a trusted ecosystem that would provide healthcare, communicate with the family overseas, and give us the confidence that someone was looking after them,” says Bhayani, who has been away from India for nearly 35 years, first in the United States (US) and currently in the United Kingdom (UK). “There are three carers who contact my parents every week, including a care manager and a specialist for dementia care,” she adds.

There are many non-resident Indians and those living in distant cities within India who feel cornered by the same concern, guilt and helplessness for their ageing parents, because as Bhayani says, “Distance doesn’t mean we stop caring for them.


India’s senior population (60 years and above), which was around 142 million (10% of the total population) in 2021, is expected to grow to 231 million by 2036 (15% of the population), and to nearly 340-350 million (21% of the population) by 2051, according to a CARE Ratings report. A large percentage of this population lives independently, and increasing longevity means many are left fending for themselves in old age through various medical conditions. “They are the most vulnerable segment because they carry the disease burden, don’t have caretakers, and more importantly, are in a state of denial,” says Dr Aman Khera, CEO & Founder of Delhi-based Aegiscare, which has 65% NRI clients, mostly from the US.

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While children have traditionally remained the main support system for senior citizens, providing physical, emotional, and often financial assistance to them, this has started to crumble due to the large number of nuclear families and children’s migration to other cities or countries for work. Realising the need for support to this segment, a large number of elder care companies have mushroomed in the past few years with a few hundred in operation today.

Sanjay Mehta (left), Mumbai
Parents
Prem Lal & Hans Mehta,
90 & 82, Delhi
Elder care firm
Aegiscare
Services: Bathing, toilet duties, feeding, routine care and mobility
Cost: Rs.68,000 a month
Note:"It was impossible for us to manage my father’s large frame, but we were provided staffers who could do so.”

What do elder care firms offer?

Being an unorganised sector, the elder care companies do not follow a defined structure, range or standard of services. “Only 2% of the homecare is organised in the country despite it being an $8-10 billion market,” says Vishal Lathwal, CEO, Apollo Home Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals. So, from a single healthcare need to packages that combine a clutch of services, every company has its own set of offerings that are spread across the country or limited to a few cities.

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Most of the services can be easily personalised depending on the client’s needs, which can range from physical support, day-to-day household tasks like grocery shopping and financial transactions, to healthcare and check-ups, medical and disease-specific support, emergency care, even a simple requirement to alleviate the elderly person’s loneliness. US-based Mamta Gautam-Basak, for instance, approached Samarth Eldercare in 2021 because she just wanted someone to engage with her father, who didn’t need any medical care as such. “After he passed away, and my mother started suffering from memory lapses, I approached them again in 2022. I can now sleep knowing that someone is there for my mother in case of any urgent issue,” she says.

“The services are almost always customised because no two families are the same and they invariably have primary and secondary needs. For instance, two people may buy the same plan, but for one medical coordination may be the greater need. Once the treatment is over, convenience may become the larger need, and they may just require someone to pay bills, carry out repairs, and make sure their insurance and paperwork are in place,” says Asheesh Gupta, CEO & Founder, Samarth Eldercare, which has a 650-strong team in over 350 cities.

Agrees Santosh Abraham, CEO & Cofounder, ElderAid Wellness. “We positioned ourselves as a proxy child because our care managers, who are assigned to an elder, will do anything a child would do for their parents. These include tasks as mundane as paying the water or electricity bill, buying groceries and vegetables, managing the pill box, taking them for a medical check-up, fixing a doctor’s appointment, or taking them to the hospital,” says Abraham, whose south India-focused firm was set up in 2015.

For Mumbai-based Sanjay Mehta, it was the issue of his 90-year-old father Prem Lal’s large frame. The latter struggled with mobility and routine tasks, but it was difficult for his wife and household help to manage because he weighs around 90 kg. So, Mehta contacted Delhi-based Aegiscare. “We had an attendant for the day, but in early 2026, after my father had an episode, we asked for another attendant for the night, and both have been managing him to our satisfaction,” says Mehta, whose two sisters lives in Mumbai and in the US.

“Most of the clients treat it like insurance and approach us only after their parents face a problem. Their primary concerns are emergency management, regular home visits because their parents are lonely, or monitoring their vitals,” says Khera, who is mostly approached by NRI children in their 30s or 40s. For Apollo Home Healthcare, the NRI clientele is a smaller share and it’s the seniors who approach them, while the children handle the finances. “We offer nonclinical attendants and certified nurses under the assisted care segment, and then there are blood tests, medicine delivery, chronic care, physiotherapy and pain management,” says Lathwal. The company conducts 3,500-5,000 care transactions a day, with 50-60% clients in the senior category.

Some of the elder care players in the market

Arpita Bhayani (centre),United Kingdom
Parents
Archana Chakravarti, 84, & Pranab Kumar, 90, Gurugram
Elder care firm
Samarth Eldercare
Services: Dedicated care manager, personalised companionship, cognitive care plan for mother with dementia
Cost: Rs.23,999 a month
Note:"When my mother was diagnosed with dementia, I wanted a trusted ecosystem that would provide healthcare and give us confidence that someone was looking after them.”

Updates & costs

A reliable elder care company will typically create a client profile with the requisite medical and personal information while onboarding the customer, and explain the standard operating procedures and emergency protocols to the family. Then a care or relationship manager is assigned to the client, who remains accessible at all times, and is the first point of contact for any issues with the attendant/nursing staff, who visits at a predefined frequency or stays 24x7 with the senior citizen.

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“Once a customer is onboarded, we get a form filled with all the medical information like blood group, allergies, primary physician and preferred hospital details, and create a golden circle of family members with their contact numbers so that they can be updated or informed in case of emergencies or issues,” says Abraham.

Most companies have tie-ups with hospitals and clinics, and their own or parents’ physicians or specialists, who are alerted in case of an emergency. “We maintain tieups with reputed multispeciality hospitals within a 5-kilometre radius of our facilities, allowing swift response time during emergencies. Our nursing teams are trained to administer emergency procedures, and we also loop in our facility physicians,” says Neha Sinha, Dementia Specialist and Clinical Psychologist, Co-founder & CEO, Epoch Elder Care, an assisted living and dementia care facility.

“If the patient gives consent, we loop in the family members and update them every fortnight or once a month through mail,” says Lathwal. “We don’t use WhatsApp because there is a legal constraint on healthcare data crossing international boundaries,” he adds. In India, most companies use e-mails, apps, and WhatsApp to keep family members informed and updated about their parents’ medical and general condition, using video calls too for a deeper connection with children abroad.

Most bigger companies offer subscription packages at a fixed price that include a defined set of services. For instance, Emoha, which is available in 200 cities, offers sixmonth and 12- month plans that range from Rs.2,999 to Rs.19,999 per month. “However, subscription plans don’t work too often and people generally customise or pick individual services,” says Khera.

“Remember that any care provider charging less than Rs.1,000 a day at home is not a certified nurse, only an attendant, who does not have any medical qualification. A certified nurse will usually charge Rs.1,600-1,800 or more for 12 hours,” says Lathwal. These charges are at a discount in the informal sector.

Most companies have a mix of full-time employees, part-timers empanelled as per need, or workers outsourced from external staffing agencies. “We have tie-ups only with agencies where I’m fully confident the staff is trained and has background checks,” says Khera. Samarth Eldercare has care managers who are professionals—engineers, former bankers, teachers—with a standing in the society, who want to make a social impact.

Ask these questions before choosing a service provider

It’s important to verify the elder care company and conduct due diligence to ensure your parents’ safety and care.
Is the company registered & licensed?
Ask for business registration, operational and medical or health licences to ensure that the firm meets all the regulatory requirements and can be held accountable.

Are caregivers verified?

For attendants or staffers who spend long hours with the aged parents, it’s crucial to have background checks and police verification to ensure the seniors’ safety.
Is an emergency protocol in place?
Understand every step of the manner in which the service provider will handle an emergency and how it will keep you involved and updated about it.
Do they have a personalised care plan?
Most companies offer care customisation, but make sure the services match your parents’ medical and personal needs, ask for details about every service provided, and the associated costs.
Do caregivers have professional certification?
If nursing or medical aid is required, the staff should have proper qualification, certification,training and experience.
How good is the communication?
Check when and how you will be kept informed and updated about your parents and their medical condition, whether it’s through mail, WhatsApp or video calls, and the frequency of updates.
Can you provide references from clients?
Always ask for referrals and talk to the former or existing clients to understand any potential issues or challenges, and the reputation of the service provider.

Check before signing up

The most important factor for children, especially those who stay abroad, is trusting their parents’ care to strangers. To ensure the parents remain protected from abuse or fraud, it’s crucial that they conduct due diligence and ask relevant questions before signing up with an elder care firm.

Among the things they should check is the firm’s credentials and documentation. “Make sure the organisation is registered and has licences for regulatory compliance,” says Abraham. Next, ask for police verification and background checks of attendants and nursing staff. Also ask for their care procedures and emergency protocols so that you remain assured in case there is an untoward event.

Another important check point is the family orientation, personality and softer skills of the staff so that the adjustment with parents is not an issue. This is why some firms provide counselling to their staffers to attune them to seniors’ needs, besides a rigorous screening process, where they scan certification, conduct police checks, gauge technical skills, as well as soft skills and staff behaviour.