Transforming Elderly Care: Digital Dispensaries Revolutionize Healthcare For Seniors In India

Growing older is just a natural part of life's journey, isn't it? But here's the thing: as we age, our bodies start throwing us a few curveballs, making us rely more on others for the little things. And let's be real, it's not a big deal for some, but for many seniors out there, it's a whole new ball game. With families getting smaller and folks finding it trickier to access healthcare on their own, elderly patients often find difficulty in managing their daily tasks! That's where technology steps in, like the superhero of the story. Now picture this: digital dispensaries swooping in to save the day! These aren't your regular pharmacies—they're like the future of elder care, right in your pocket. Wanna know more about the revolutionizing elderly healthcare in India? Continue to read for more information.

What are digital dispensaries?

A digital dispensary is an innovative online platform that implements technology to provide convenient and accessible medical services to patients. Moreover, it plays a crucial role in improving the accessibility, affordability, efficiency, and quality of healthcare services.

Why do the elderly need digital dispensaries?

According to a World Health Organization report, the percentage of people who are older than 60 years is expected to double between 2015-2050. This shows that there will be an increased need for elderly care, which needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Moreover, digital dispensaries can help address both the needs and demands of elderly caretakers. Here are some of the points that explain the need for digital dispensaries for elders.

1. Easily accessibility: Elderly patients who live in a remote place are often struggling to reach healthcare due to the unavailability of the transport facilities and health conditions. These conditions can be simplified by digital dispensaries, which make healthcare accessible to everyone's comfort.
2. Convenience: Digital dispensaries can offer an alternative for elderly individuals who are unable to walk or travel long distances to visit the doctor for consultations. It can help to get a doctor's appointment, consultations, and early diagnosis of the disease anywhere in the world.
3. Improve health: Digital dispensaries can help provide timely diagnosis and treatment for elderly patients, which can improve their health.
4. Lower the cost of healthcare: It can also help to lower the cost of healthcare in treating disease by cutting down the traveling expense of the elderly patient in visiting the doctor or clinics.
5. Technology for elders: It helps to advance technology for elders in the aspect of healthcare requirements. In fact, after covid-19 break, it is estimated that the use of technology in elderly patients for healthcare has increased.
6. Reduce the caregiver burden: It helps to reduce the workload of caregiver by reducing the visiting times of caregivers to elderly homes.

Exploring the Digital Dispensary Revolution: Enhancing Elderly Care In India

1. NITI Aayog: NITI Aayog, is a government organization dedicated to improving the lives of people in India. They recently released a paper called 'Senior Care Reforms in India - Reimagining the Senior Care Paradigm: A Position Paper.' This paper helps us to understand the policies and programs that support senior care. It also addresses the challenges and gaps in current efforts to meet the healthcare needs of our elderly population.
2. In India, the telemedicine market has seen tremendous growth and is expected to reach 44,280 crore in 2025.
3. In Odisha, the state government of Bhuvneshwar has signed an agreement with the global healthcare system to create and manage 102 digital dispensaries across 23 districts out there, followed by 25 locations in Nabarangpur and 5 districts in Keonjhar.
4. In West Bengal, a new initiative has been launched in the name of a G1 digital dispensary to improve the accessibility of healthcare for the rural population in India.
5. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched a program (National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly) in 2010 to provide separate and specialized health care for senior citizens in India.
6. The government of Jharkhand has launched a public-private partnership, bringing together public authorities (state or local) and private businesses to offer easily accessible medical services through digital dispensaries and has launched 79,000 digital dispensaries for the rural people in Jharkhand.
7. Government Initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, CoWIN App, Aarogya Setu, e-Sanjeevani, and e-Hospital have made healthcare more accessible and can help to reach those elderly patients who find difficulty in traveling to physical healthcare.

How can we make these elderly digital dispensaries more reliable?

The Australian government has followed seven guidelines for standards and regulations of digital healthcare, which we can also incorporate in India. These guidelines includes:

1. User-centric: It should meet the demands of both patients and healthcare providers.
2. Security and privacy protection: The patient's health information should be securely maintained with the user's permission.
3. Supporting agile collaboration: It is crucial to maintain an effective team and collaboration that addresses the needs of users and stakeholders.
4. Promoting a culture of quality and safety: It should provide secure and excellent digital health products and services.
5. Enhancing equity of access: It should improve the accessibility of the people who are facing obstacles in reaching healthcare.
6. Leveraging the existing resources and talents: It should improve the provision of digitally enabled healthcare across the countries.
7. Prudent spending of taxpayers' money: It should reduce the wastage for taxpayers and ensure that the investments are delivered in the best healthcare outcomes.

Summing up!

Healthcare needs to bring more innovations that move towards digitalization to reduce the burden for elderly patients around us. When we grow older, we become small kids who need support and care to lead daily activities. Similarly, we need to ensure that every elderly patient is comfortable in running their daily task, especially in healthcare needs. For that, Our world needs more innovation and improvement like digital dispensaries to ease the accessibility to healthcare. Let’s make healthcare more accessible to every elderly patient.