Aging is an unavoidable event in life. Developing countries have older adults in absolute terms because of their large population base. The share of elderly in India’s population was 8.6% or about 104 million as per the 2011 Census, but it is estimated that, by 2050, India will be home to 300 million old people. However, just 2% of India’s population has access to palliative care. According to the Economist’s Quality of Death Index 2015, which analyzed the quality of palliative care units around the world, India currently ranks 59 out of 81 countries in the Quality of Death index. India with its growing population carries a huge burden of patients suffering from life-limiting diseases within which even the elderly population is included. Many of whom have exhausted all meaningful treatment options. Palliative care is an interdisciplinary approach that aims to improve the quality of life of terminally ill patients and their caregivers. It provides physical, emotional, psychosocial, spiritual, and rehabilitative interventions. Current palliative care services in India have insufficient healthcare infrastructure, a lack of trained healthcare providers, and unaware attitudes of patients and/or caregivers. As a result, these elderly patients often spend their last days under several unfamiliar circumstances. The present study has been conducted in various parts of the country, with the prime objective of exploring several unknown issues and challenges related to the palliative care system as well as its lack of awareness in the domestic, social, and medical spheres. Primary data have been collected through empirical fieldwork by applying structured questionnaires, case studies, and interviews at different levels. The findings of the study reflect on the social responses other than the care itself when the elderly is perceived to have gone beyond the expected medical response.
