The aging population faces a set of health challenges which is highly linked to long term physical and mental disability and a number of long term chronic conditions that will likely increase personal care needs.
While serving seniors through the seniors feeding program, it is evident that the health particularly of an aging population is integral to their wellbeing. We have witnessed the mortality rate among our seniors continue to rise over the years especially during the Covid 19 pandemic, as well as the number of bedridden beneficiaries. Majority of these seniors are unable to afford healthcare let alone food.
It is for this reason that we aim to establish long term health interventions for our beneficiaries.
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250
Preventable deaths among seniors
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35
Bedridden seniors due to inaccessibility or delayed arrival to hospitals
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90
Percentage of seniors in need of medical intervention.
Our Approach
We organized free medical camps from 2016-2019 for senior citizens in Isiolo County to alleviate health complaints and find out the prevalent disease among this population.
These camps provided a range of services including triage, consultation, laboratory, pharmacy, X-ray, and ultrasound. Additionally, we partnered with like-minded organizations to conduct targeted interventions such as eye surgical camp for seniors.
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3 elderly medical camps organized
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191 cataracts operated on saving costs ranging between KES 50,000- 80,000 per surgery
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contribution
to good health and well being.
Our Challenges
The Covid-19 pandemic presented a significant challenge to our medical camps as restrictions on group gatherings hindered service delivery to seniors in need. Consequently, we had to rethink our approach to healthcare delivery for seniors.
Medical camps act as band aids rather than a long term solution to affordable healthcare. These camps have very little to long term impact when it comes to improving the overall health of seniors.
Our Opportunities
Our seniors are in need of constant intervention from medical professionals, who can offer round the clock care with access to specialized equipment when needed.
As a result, we implemented a pilot project by registering seniors under the National Healthcare Insurance Fund (NHIF) now known as Social Health Insurance fund (SHIF) so that they can access medical attention that covers consultation, diagnosis, access to specialized equipment and medication costs.
The pilot was a success, providing valuable insights as we launched our seniors’ healthcare program. This program includes the registration of seniors under the newly named Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), formerly the National Healthcare Insurance Fund (NHIF), along with additional healthcare services from our clinical officer whose role is to support seniors with mobility challenges who struggle to access healthcare facilities.
To sustain and expand this vital program, we invite individuals, organizations, and government bodies to join us in promoting the health and well-being of our seniors.
Support our Seniors’ Health Program by donating today!
We guarantee 100% of your donation will go directly to supporting this cause.
