Elderly Empowerment Through Improved Access to Healthcare
India is a young nation; India is also ageing and we are not prepared. The Indian Ageing Report by UNFPA states that the current percentage of the elderly population of 6% is expected to rise to over 10% by 2025. What is worrying is the lack of solutions for this rising demographic, we are not prepared.
Changed familial setups, job opportunities elsewhere, income and personal insecurity are adding to the vulnerability of the older population. Healthcare is the biggest concern for the elderly making them more susceptible to adversities.
Among the several issues faced by the elderly in India, co-morbidities and chronic disease management are of most concern. Often delay in healthcare or lapse in care continuance aggravates the issues due to which the ill effects are magnified. This emerging challenge demands care management for the elderly to be placed as an immediate need.
Accessibility of healthcare cannot be limited to or defined by, at-home diagnostics and pharmacy delivery, it is beyond that. The concept of geriatric healthcare is what forms a part of the extended services provided by the industry. Healthcare in India has been late in identifying and servicing the needs of the geriatric population, resulting in a slow-paced adoption of standard global practices. According to a survey done by Agewell Research and Advocacy Centre in 2018, 62.1% of elderly in India don’t get long term, palliative care. Most elderly need assistance to go to the physicians, and according to the report, 52.4% of them lack family support. Especially in tier-1 cities, this lack of support is the major concern for the elderly.
The need of the hour is a holistic ecosystem where a patient advocate is trained in medical facility processes, basic medical knowledge, with the best interest of the patient. These care managers bridge the gap between healthcare providers and patients. This empowers the elderly by reducing dependency on the family that is either away or temporarily unavailable and making treatments efficient and effective while leveraging technology.
Healthcare needs the human touch, it is an emotional and testing time, these care managers fill the gap in the impersonal time of the digital age.
Geriatric healthcare brings focus to this massively underserved, underserviced population which at times feels dependent, helpless and overwhelmed by the current medical system which does not understand their pain points, nor the needs correctly. Designing solutions keeping in mind this group specifically is a step towards addressing a fairly concerning gap, and a tool that helps the elderly feel empowered and in control.
