Telehealth challenges in treating the elderly

Tele health has pervaded and is supporting the elderly by giving them excellent care by means of popular video apps like Apple Facetime, Android Whatsapp, Google Meet, Zoom, Skype etc. But are these technologies available to the needy patients and if available, are the elderly patients in a physical and mental condition or literate enough to be using these apps comfortably. 

I happened to read the HBR article "4 strategies to make tele health work for elderly patients" in Nov 2020. (click here) It was interesting to read as it is very much relevant to the present times. We see the elderly suffering due to lack of awareness and access to the modern tele health gadgets.

Most of the elderly "digital alien" patients may be aware but not as conversant with the technology as the younger "digital native" population. This raises issues regarding usage and utility of these applications for the elderly people, who critically need them during the Covid times.

Challenges faced by the elderly are given below with possible solutions

1. Not able to use the technology because of limited digital literacy

2. No access to the technology or equipment due to economic reasons or being in remote locations

3. Medical conditions preventing self use of these tech gadgets like blindness, Alzheimer's disease

4. Patients who need full time care and monitoring as they are physically unable to manage on their own

5. Patients are unable to prevent bystanders or public from misusing their weakness and not reporting to the authorities in case of any violation.

The remedies that can be applied are as given below. 

1. seeking help of a close family member who is digitally literate to operate the equipment

2. the government could provide the equipment on loan which could be returned after use

3. government could engage helpers or nurses if no family member of the patient is available to help or the patient needs full time attention

4. the ward nurses and attendants need to be more ethically trained to help and not exploit needy patients

I have been aware of cases in Bangalore, India where nurses from St. Johns Medical College have made visits to homes of Covid patents if they find it difficult to visit hospitals.  This may not be a viable option for all cases.

Putting the onus on the government systems to take care of the elderly and needy when close family members are not available does not work all the time, due to the already strained ways in which the existing government systems are functioning, due to lack of funds, modern equipment and good leadership policies.