The declaration of the coronavirus outbreak as a global pandemic by the world health organization on March 12, 2020, saw several countries pull up resources in their efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus. The United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States of America in particular were among the first countries to take action. Of the several measures to curb the spread that included movement restrictions, telehealth was adopted by all three countries to help particularly the aged who were more prone to infection. Even though all three gave attention to older people and their commitment was to at least basic service quality safeguards, Australia had a better telehealth implementation.
In contrast to the UK and the USA, Australia has a wide variety of operational telehealth services (that provide tele- and video consultations), particularly in remote regions. As a result of the government’s funding commitment, these services may be able to expand their offerings. The variety of elderly care services now offered and the degree to which they acknowledge the importance of emerging technology are also important (Fisk et al., 2020). As a result, Australia is in a good position to tackle the COVID-19 problem and provide telehealth services that address the requirements of both the health and social care sectors.
On the other hand, it is unknown if recent telehealth projects in the US and the UK will benefit senior citizens. Numerous (elderly) folks lack cell phones or computers. Depending on where they are, some will have bad (or no) connectivity. Additionally, despite the urgency of COVID-19, the rollout of telehealth services in the United Kingdom may be slow, despite the National Health Service (NHS’s) good intentions to assist everyone in need (as part of their universal service obligation) (Fisk et al., 2020). Nevertheless, lessons will be learned from Scotland and other countries outside of the UK. Additionally, there are problems in the United States with the expense of services for which (older) persons are ineligible for Medicare.
Reference
Fisk, M., Livingstone, A., & Pit, S. W. (2020). Telehealth in the context of COVID-19: changing perspectives in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Journal of medical Internet research, 22(6), e19264. Web.