Globally the elderly are constantly increasing. Greece is among the countries with the oldest population, along with Japan, South Korea, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The demographic increase in the number of the elderly, especially those over 80, will continue in the next 40 years. It is estimated that in 2050 people over 65 years old will be the 1/3 of the population.
For forty years, Geriatrics has been a recognized medical specialty, which deals spherically with the physical, mental, functional and social status of the elderly patients while providing care, either preventive, rehabilitation, urgent, chronic or even final. Geriatric Medicine collaborates with all medical specialties aiming to provide the best care for elderly patients.
This group of patients usually shows a high degree of frailty and multi morbidity, therefore it requires a holistic approach. The main goal of Geriatric Medicine is to optimize the functional status of the elderly people in order to maintain autonomy and quality of life thus enabling them to live a healthy, productive and fulfilling life.