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Latest Senior Health News<\/h3>\n
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![\"News](\"https:\/\/media.healthday.com\/Images\/icimages\/elderly_computer_991.jpg\"\/)
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THURSDAY, Aug. 6, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
The coronavirus pandemic has fueled big increases in video visits between patients and doctors, but older Americans haven’t easily taken to the trend, a new study finds.<\/p>\n
More than one-third of those over 65 face difficulties seeing their doctor via telemedicine — especially older men in remote or rural areas who are poor, have disabilities or are in poor health.<\/p>\n
“Telemedicine is not inherently accessible, and mandating its use leaves many older adults without access to their medical care,” said lead author Dr. Kenneth Lam, a clinical fellow in geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.<\/p>\n
“We need further innovation in devices, services and policy to make sure older adults are not left behind during this migration,” he added in a university news release.<\/p>\n
Video visits are a good way to reach patients at home, but they require patients to be able to get online, use computer equipment and fix technical problems when they arise.<\/p>\n
For the study, Lam’s team analyzed 2018 data on more than 4,500 Medicare patients.<\/p>\n
The researchers reported that about 38% weren’t ready for video visits, including 72% of those 85 or older, mostly because they were inexperienced with technology or had a physical disability.<\/p>\n
Even with outside support, 32% were not ready, and 20% couldn’t cope with a phone visit because of dementia<\/a> or difficulty hearing<\/a> or communicating, the findings showed.<\/p>\n The most unready Medicare patients were older, male, unmarried, Black or Hispanic, rural, less educated, poor and in poor health, the investigators found.<\/p>\n “To build an accessible telemedicine system, we need actionable plans and contingencies to overcome the high prevalence of inexperience with technology and disability in the older population,” Lam said.<\/p>\n “This includes devices with better designed user interfaces to get connected, digital accommodations for hearing<\/a> and visual impairments, services to train older adults in the use of devices and, for some clinicians, keeping their offices open during the pandemic,” he added.<\/p>\n The report was published online Aug. 3 in JAMA Internal Medicine<\/i>.<\/p>\n — Steven Reinberg<\/p>\n ![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
Copyright \u00a9 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
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