Coronavirus opens up the NHS for health tech entrepreneurs

To help senior citizens through the coronavirus pandemic, teens and young adults are teaching the older people in their communities how to utilize technology. From "using FaceTime, finding reputable news on Facebook, and ordering groceries online," the skills these young volunteers are teaching help bridge the gap between social distancing and isolation.

One positive side effect of the encouraged social distancing due to the novel coronavirus outbreak is the shift to telemedicine, specifically the chance to have therapy sessions over phone and video calls. At one health center in the Houston area, about 90% of its typically 2,000 weekly appointments have made the transition to online.

As more individuals are hospitalized and in critical condition from COVID19, religious leaders are finding unique ways to connect. While the norm may be to be at bedsides, in this unprecedented time where that isn’t possible, chaplains, rabbis, and priests are using FaceTime and texting to connect with members of their communities and offer prayer and blessings.

Cuyahoga County enlists medical students and residents to help the overwhelmed city health staff tackle the coronavirus chaos. Among other administrative tasks, students interview patients who have tested positive for coronavirus, noting their symptoms and underlying health issues to provide data and patterns to county health officials.

At nursing homes in the Long Island area, facilities and their staff have stepped up to ensure residents can use technology to stay connected. They have facilitated performances over Zoom, local school-children send videos to say hello, and lectures and games have been made available online, as well.

Many flight attendants for Scandinavian Airlines have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic but are now being given the opportunity to retrain as healthcare providers. The laid-off crew members already have emergency medical training and are "trained in how to handle difficult interpersonal situation," which makes the move to nursing homes and hospitals an almost natural transition.

Across the world, many senior citizens have been cut off from access to normal routines and ways of community due to the coronavirus pandemic, but communities and organizations are working to fill the void. In Belgium, robots are being used in retirement homes to combat isolation, while in Germany, employees of a soccer club are shopping for the elderly.

While the media mostly highlights the top-down, government-led measures of containment happening in Wuhan, China, an invisible, sophisticated grassroots network has also had a powerful positive effect on stemming the tide of infection. Using social media and apps like WeChat, neighbors helped each other find food and medicine, support the sick among them, and simply survive.

As meetings and social gatherings of all kinds have been postponed or canceled altogether, the support group Alcoholics Anonymous faced a particular challenge given the imperative and power of their in-person meetings. Fortunately, many chapters have moved their meetings online, to video conference services like Skype or Zoom.

Hong Kong and Singapore are being looked to as potential models of how to contain the coronavirus pandemic, but they also offer lessons about how to keep the frontline health care providers safe during an outbreak as well. From specific protocols about when the use of a N95 mask is necessary to a precise definition of what justifies "close contact," these two countries are showing that occupational exposure isn't necessarily a threat when dealt with properly and proactively.