India’s healthcare sector has seen a lot of progress over several years, with quality, access and medical research being key turnaround aspects. Today, people from all over the world come here for world-class treatment at reasonable costs, with some states hinging overall profitability on the quality of healthcare they provide. 

However, home health care continues face several challenges, and agencies must fulfill diverse needs with resources and help that can fall short. Let’s have a look.

Lack of experience and proper training

India’s elderly population is growing rapidly, and with it the demand for high-quality senior care. There aren’t enough skilled healthcare partners to fulfil this need – the people in service are former primary healthcare providers such as nurses, certified in caregiving courses that teach elementary medical skills, or more commonly informally taught basic things such as checking vitals and taking care of hygiene. While several institutes have cropped up across India to address this knowledge gap, at the same time, not everyone has the wherewithal to pay for these courses nor the compulsory educational background to be admitted. In everyday scenarios, home care providers are seen as ayahs, who become all-in-one caretakers of a household with menial chores becoming part of their scope of work. 

Retention of staff

Home care agencies in India – and the world – not only face staffing issues but also retention of said staff. Many care agencies operate informally — caregivers earn low wages for long hours, do not get regular work, do not have job security, flexible work options, etc. Conversely, caregivers don’t have to serve notice periods for example, nor are they contractually obligated to not join other agencies. These factors create an unreliable ecosystem of care; instances of caregivers not showing up, demanding more money, and being unprofessional, careless, unkind, or just plain unsafe are very commonplace.

Uneven processes

One of the biggest challenges to providing quality home health care is connecting the right staff to suit a patient’s specific requirements. The need for home care can arise from a variety of situations – post-op recovery, temporary or chronic illness, disability, etc. To match a caregiver with the requisite skill, training and experience to a patient is a process within the home health care system in India that’s yet to evolve fully. Additionally, given how diverse India is, requirements are also often specific to language, gender and even religion. These make it harder to provide the right care that ensures comfort and safety.

The economic divide

While home health care should be for everyone, in reality, it is only affordable by the affluent classes in India. Experienced caregivers with proper medical skills are often expensive to hire because of the quality they bring to the table. Not all insurance providers cover home health care, which can strain finances for a large section of the Indian population. This aspect severely limits access to quality healthcare, which is where health care providers and the government should come up with adequate solutions that will benefit all parties.