Authored by Mr. Rahul Misra, Founder, Vesta Elder Care.

The digital scenario in contemporary times has evolved from providing basic healthcare facilities to specialised healthcare for elderly patients. With an extensively busy schedule of family caregivers, monitoring and tracking elderly patients’ healthcare may become a tiresome task. To avoid  neglect in the care of our loved ones, technology has devised healthcare mobile Apps that help keep a record of patients’ medication and body vitals and send important notifications.

With records of more than 3.5 billion smartphone users, Pew Research Centre in 2021 concluded that 61% of senior citizens aged 65 years and above use a smartphone. The statistics reveal the reason behind the flourishing of Health solutions. The pandemic has also accelerated the use of digital technology to enable patients to use mHealth facilities for checkups, consultations, counselling, and electronic prescriptions. Surprisingly, 93% of physicians believe that mobile-based healthcare Apps have the highest ratio in improving patients’ health.

Services provided by Healthcare Apps

Each App has a unique property and provides a set of services for an elderly patient to use easily. Some of the commonly used services are:-

• Schedule and remind patients of their medication
• Register the medication and receive automatic refill reminders
• Maintain a record report for doctor consultation
• Track patient location to fetch emergency services
• Allows 24×7 direct contact with efficient doctors, health providers, and nurses
• Interactive symptom-checking tools to recognize signs
• Keeping a Personal Health Record (PHR) along with its backup
• Recording and syncing data of blood glucose, pulse, weight, blood pressure, and temperature.
• Maintains constant contact between the patient and the caregiver

Upcoming Healthcare Apps also provide facilities to hire a professional caregiver for elderly patients, while some also help maintain the physical and mental health of the patient through customized exercises and meditation.

Advantages to Elderly Patients

Old-aged patients are often affected by chronic diseases and acute physical pains, which reduce their mobility and willingness to stay in the unfamiliar environment of a hospital. Mobile healthcare Apps provide the best medical facilities at hand from the comforts of a patient’s home. Since the body vitals’ measurements get recorded in the App, doctors can timely customize a treatment for their patients through these measurements. Health care Apps are the most convenient for those senior citizens who live on their own as they can hire a caregiver if required or even manage their health themselves since every facility is just a tap away.

Advantages to Caregivers

Addressing the healthcare needs of our elderly loved ones can be a tedious job since it gets tough to choose the best healthcare facilities for them. However, mHealth provides authentic and top-notch amenities for the best treatment, either for a chronic disease or a routine checkup. Reports show that in India, many public ambulance services take more than 45 minutes to reach the patients, private services take 20-25 minutes, whereas ambulance services through mHealth usually take less than 15 minutes to reach the patient. The quick and cost-effective services provided by healthcare Apps are a more reliable solution for elderly patients.

Technology is a boon to mankind, and its innovation in the healthcare industry has upgraded the facilities for patients, families, and professionals. Over time the population of senior citizens is expected to grow, and so will the need to manage long-term health issues. Mobile-based healthcare facilities have already built a niche for themselves with their top-class facilities, and this industry will surely see an advancement that will change the entire setup of the health industry.