During the two-year period between March 2020 and March 2022, medical services delivery via Telehealth has skyrocketed, with over 100 million services provided to over 17 million Australians. Of this number, 5 million services were delivered by Allied Health Professionals.  

While components of Telehealth have been around for years, widespread adoption of the concept was slow. The recent pandemic has helped Telehealth take off, showing the general population the advantages of virtual delivery of health services. Even with the easing of lockdowns and quarantine measures, the trend appears to continue, with Telehealth services being adopted as a permanent feature of primary healthcare according to the Department of Health and Aged Care. 

Benefits of Telehealth for older adults 

Telehealth has finally come of age and while it is beneficial to the general public, it is even more advantageous to older adults. Telehealth offers a convenient and cost-effective way for older adults who may have mobility and transport challenges to access healthcare as well as ensure optimal outcomes through continuity of care. 

Telehealth offers a myriad of benefits for older adults as well as their caregivers. These include the ff.: 

• Less exposure to communicable illnesses – a very important consideration  

     especially since this age group may be more vulnerable to certain types of  

     infections and diseases 

• Less trips outside of the home – this means a lot less expenses and less 

     inconvenience in having to find transport to go to a health facility and back  

     home 

• Less time away from your home – receiving virtual care saves you from 

     having to spend hours away from your home, which is especially advantageous  

     if you have family members or household tasks to attend to     

• Improved access to healthcare – Telehealth allows you to see your health 

     professional sooner without having to line up or go on waitlists 

How Telehealth can be useful to older adults?

One important lesson that emerged from the pandemic is the issue of the ‘digital divide’ — defined as the gap between those who may benefit from access to communication technologies and information and those who may not.  

The segments of the population that comprise this digital divide include older adults who may not be as digitally literate to take full advantage of the technology. Clearly, there is a need for a platform that can offer sophisticated features but requires only a little time to learn and use. 

Is there an app for Telehealth that’s easy to use? 

At Healthstin, we developed our unique telehealth app, MyHealthPal, to be intuitive and downright easy to use. We understand that advanced technology doesn’t have to be complicated in real-life usage and that for technology to be truly beneficial, it has to be easy to learn. 

MyHealthPal offers an array of benefits that allows a wide range of users to gain access to much-needed health services and relevant information such as the following: 

• Telehealth Exercise Physiology services – This allows you to have virtual consultations with an Exercise Physiologist from our Allied Health Team for 

functional capacity assessments and monitoring. 

• Wealth of health information – MyHealthPal also offers a rich storehouse 

of health information that includes over 15,000 narrated training videos.  

These videos allow you to observe correct form and use proper exercise  

techniques while training at home at your own pace.  

• Integration of daily exercise program – we custom-built our telehealth 

platform so that it integrates your daily exercise program into the app. This  

means that whether your support worker logs on each day for you or heads  

to the park to exercise, you will be guided through each movement as well as be able to chat directly with your Allied Health Professional. 

• User-friendly – Another feature of MyHealthPal is it’s user-friendly

interface. At Healthstin, we understand that one of the barriers to the  

adoption of Telehealth services is the level of digital literacy of older adults. We made MyHealthPal simple and easy to use so you can benefit from the  

app right away minus a steep learning curve.  

From improving activities of daily living to boosting your health status, range of motion, and strength, having MyHealthPal on your smartphone or device is like having your Allied Health Professional always by your side. 

Download MyHealthPal now by clicking this link and start enjoying the benefits of our innovative Telehealth app today.