What is going to be your New Year's resolution?

A Gift of Love!!

As the saying goes, it’s far too easy to make promises but oftentimes we find them very difficult to keep. Probably, our New Year resolutions do fall in this category. More often than not, we tend to fall back on the standard excuse “there is always the next time.”

Being chronically ill can be embarrassing! Day in and day out, we do see our near and dear ones go through the pain, stress, and trauma due to a chronic ailment. It can add to the worries if you are someone who stays away from them and you realize they have done so much to take care of you and support you. Apparently, there is no “one size fits all” solution for this as is the case with all other things in life. But given the surge in smart mobile devices and applications in healthcare, probably there is more you can accomplish to support them and help them enjoy a good quality of life. mHealth applications have made patient monitoring far too simpler and become effective means to foster strong patient-physician relationship. Present them a solution that is simple, relevant and help you stay connected wherever you are.

Frequent logging of self-monitored health information is a necessary task for most chronically ill patients especially those who suffer from diabetes or hypertension and this may not be something they enjoy the most. Providing a simplified experience that allows them to quickly capture/track things like glucose levels, blood pressure, HbA1c, medicines, etc., get their recurring service needs (viz., buying medicines, ordering lab tests, or require home care services) delivered to their door, and help them engage with their care providers would go a long way in gaining a holistic view of managing their health condition!

So this year, how about a New Year’s resolution to help your loved ones manage their chronic illness and ensure better health?