Community services and support play an important role in keeping the elderly healthy in the community and in preventing the "revolving door phenomenon". In Hospital Authority, the services are mainly provided by outpatient clinics, the community nursing service teams (CNS), the community geriatric assessment teams (CGAT) and the integrated care and discharge support teams (ICDS). Conventionally these services are provided through personal attendance by the patients or home visits by heath service providers. The Covid-19 pandemic and lock down in 2020 catalysze the transformation of this conventional approach to an approach that involves telehealth as an option or alternative.
Telehealth is the process of delivery and facilitation of health and health-related services including medical care, provider and patient education, health information services, and self-care via telecommunications and digital communication technologies. In this talk, the effectiveness of telehealth in providing community support to the elderly will be discussed in the light of the experience of telemedicine provided to Covid-19 patients in residential care homes for the elderly by CGATs, in providing tele-rehabilitation and in remote patient monitoring in elderly patients with diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The use of instant messaging apps in providing timely specialist support to complex wound management in the community will also be discussed.
Lastly, the "smart hub" project will be discussed which is a pilot in providing primary health care to patients living in remote areas through smart technology and telemedicine. The project aims to promote the accessibility of health care to remote area as well as to empower patients for self-care, and to collaborate with our community partners to improve on site support to elderly patients.
All in all these innovations and service initiatives help to deliver elderly care without boundaries which should benefit our senior citizens even after the Covid-19 era.
