8 Types of Preventive Care for Senior Citizens

In healthcare parlance, preventive care is the measure taken to prevent diseases or health issues rather than treating or curing them when they turn severe. It may be regular health check-ups, screenings, doctor consultations or vaccines. Through these ways, future health complications can be prevented thereby reducing risk and financial burden. Thankfully, some of the best senior health insurance plans in the market offer preventive care benefits under their base plan. 

In this article we’ll discuss how preventive care feature in health insurance can benefit the senior people in the society. Let’s begin with various types of preventive healthcare benefits!

Types of Preventive Measures in Older Adults

Mediclaim premiums for senior citizens are considerably higher due to age and susceptibility to chronic illnesses. However, preventive measures vary with elderly patients' general condition. It can be the prevention of diseases, frailty, accidents (unintentional injury), and even psychological problems:

Primary Prevention

This is a process to reduce or eliminate risks of chronic disease to prevent its aggravation and complications in future. It might be through vaccinations, chemoprevention and screenings. Chemoprevention is when low doses of medicines are introduced to prevent any chronic illness from developing in future. 

Secondary Prevention

This is when a disease is detected and treated at an early stage even when symptoms or any functional losses are yet to occur. This in turn can control morbidity and mortality in the long run.

Tertiary Prevention

In this, an existing, symptomatic and chronic illness is appropriately controlled to prevent any future functional loss. Patients suffering from Arthritis, Osteoporosis, diabetes etc. benefit majorly from tertiary prevention which is usually done by disease management clinics in collaboration with primary physicians and nurses. 

Prevention by Exercise and Diet

Frailty is the loss of motor functions, muscle strength, weight loss and exercise intolerance in the elderly which makes them susceptible to disability and dependency.

Simple aerobic exercises and weight training along with a healthy diet can improve their life expectancy and decrease functional decline. 

Prevention from Injuries

For people with peripheral neuropathy and Dementia, simple day-to-day chores can cause unwanted injuries. The gadgets and appliances like gas, iron etc. needs to have auto shut off feature to prevent accidents. Smoke detectors and fire alarms should be installed for protection.

Screenings

Screenings can be done for conditions like high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, breast cancer, prostate cancer etc. These are very common health conditions and can be stopped from spreading before they can do irreversible damage. 

Immunisation

This is another very effective way to prevent diseases amongst the geriatric population. Usual vaccines include annual flu shots and also covid 19 boosters. 

Counselling

Preventive counselling can motivate a senior person to take up a healthy lifestyle and give up unhealthy addictions like alcohol and tobacco consumption. 

As can be seen, the best health care for seniors means a comprehensive package which should include coverage for preventive care as well. Hence while choosing a plan these factors are important to consider.

Benefits of Preventive Care

The 3 pronged benefits of preventive care in health insurance that a senior can enjoy include: 

Detection of Diseases at an Early Phase

Regular health check-ups can detect early stages of terminal diseases like cancer, genetic issues and even heart health problems. It means the treatment is more effective as the condition is less severe and will take less time and expenses to be cured or controlled. Regular health consultations push you to alleviate stress and anxiety about sudden healthcare expenses and keep you well-prepared for the future.

Promoting Healthy Lifestyles

The no-claim bonus option and the OPD consultation features in health insurance plans for the elderly are motivating factors nowadays to follow a healthy and conscious lifestyle that indirectly adds to your savings and prepares you for any uncontrollable health expenses. For example- OPD cover in Care Senior Citizen Health Insurance includes diagnostics expenses, doctor’s consultation and pharmacy prescriptions, which can be claimed up to a maximum of Rs. 50000/-defined limit mentioned in the policy. Also, the No Claim Bonus helps in increasing your sum insured by 10%, up to a maximum of 50% in 5 consecutive years. 

Financial Advantage

Senior citizens are more exposed to age-related health issues, so frequent medical visit is essential. However, these expenses can be huge considering the health condition of a person. Senior citizen health insurance with preventive care will come to your rescue by covering those expenses. 

Additionally, the lifelong renewability feature ensures you are covered for the rest of your life and you would not have to invest more in purchasing a new policy with a higher premium at a later age. 

To Sum up

If you are looking for a comprehensive health insurance plan for yourself or your elderly parents, Care Senior health insurance can be a good option. It is a comprehensive plan that comes with multiple amazing benefits.  There is no cap on the maximum age and you can purchase the policy without any medical check up along with lifetime renewability. Annual health check-ups for all insured members are covered. Automatic recharge of the sum insured which can be utilised for multiple hospitalisations for the same person and the same disease with a break of 45 days. 

The policy coverage can further be boosted with Care Shield benefit which is an optional cover with 3 unique benefits. Claim Shield, which pays for 68 non-payable items on hospitalisation. Under NCB Shield, no claim bonus is paid even if there is a claim of <25% of base SI. With Inflation Shield, the policy SI will as per CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation rate of the previous policy year. The plan can be fully utilised for primary, secondary and even tertiary prevention. This also encourages older adults to live a healthy life and contribute to their savings in the long run. Thus, Care senior citizen health plan fulfills the major considerations of old-age related healthcare, which makes the policy a wise option to choose for. 

>> Also Read: Importance of Buying Health Insurance for Senior Citizens

Disclaimers: All plan features, benefits, coverage, and claims underwriting are subject to policy terms and conditions. Kindly refer to the brochure, sales prospectus, and policy documents carefully.