India hosts the second-highest elderly population after China. With over 138 million elderly people in India in 2021, It is important to pay attention to this growing subset of our population. There were 67 elderly men and 71 elderly women in India at the time. It is estimated that the number has risen by 32.7% between the years 2011-21. while at the same time, the general population has only raised 12.4%.

Punita Khatter, senOcare's Co-founder, founded the company with Sarthak Khanna and Sanjana Kohli. Many elderly people do not have access to basic necessities as well as emotional needs for love and care. To fill this void, she decided to launch senOcare, a 24-hour personalized elder care service platform. She is a process expert with three decades of experience. She established her travel company, MICE and More, in 2016.

Insights of senOcare

Punita Khatter states that "We were the first ones out of employment when COVID went down since we work in the travel events industry. And instead of just sitting around, we decided to go out and aid those who needed it. And, as fate would have it, we were usually contacted by children whose parents were staying alone. So what began as short-term societal assistance turned out to be a journey with no end in sight, this is how senOcare started. Sanjana Kohli, my friend for the past two decades, was the one who persuaded us to take on this initiative. After we made our decision, a few months later, there was no turning back. 

When COVID-19 engulfed the whole country, We saw that many elderly people were suffering due to a shortage of essential commodities. As a result, we devised the concept of establishing an organization that provides assistance to the elderly."

She further added, “senOcare's purpose is to give medical and emotional support to the aged. We regularly monitor how these people respond to therapies, so the elderly no longer have to worry. So it's a holistic approach to elder home care, and  It is not an old age home, senOcare helps the elderly in their homes with unique problems, it could be a plumber's need, an electrician's need, attendant requirements, doctor consultation, blood test, repair maintenance, assisting them to banks, online payments, many other relatable problems. To give you an idea of what senOcare is aiming to do, unlike other firms, we need to support people beyond their medical requirements.”

Prime USP of senOcare

Punita Khatter says "We are aware of several firms that are performing excellent work in their respective fields. Each has a distinct specialty, some focus on healthcare, some on ancillary services, but we identified a significant gap where none are offering comprehensive assistance in an accountable manner, and Googling a number of plumbers and handing them is not a solution. Giving elderly support over the phone and through Zoom chats since old age brings loneliness, aloofness, and unhappiness. So it was critical to maintain the social distance rules and to reach out to them to the best of our abilities. So we have psychologists and care managers, and we promote engagement by talking to them, learning about their concerns, and helping them feel at ease. Most of the time, the elderly's first reaction is to refuse the assistance they are receiving; it is only after they see it in action that they accept that life is becoming more comfortable. They are more secure, and small things like their birthdays and their anniversary are celebrated to make them feel special.

“They understand that no, this company does not want to let us go, like a greedy child I look forward to my phone every day and look at the messages because, they're always wonderful messages like parents prefer to contact you than us nowadays, we've stopped worrying. We've begun to sleep, reading those messages brings me great delight. ”

Punita Khatter remarked, "There are many people, and I encourage as many as possible." senOcare is modest, we are making an attempt to go national, and we will be spreading the good news that we have obtained some financing from a very excellent individual. However, our country needs more such companies than just one. There are such fantastic firms, but we just need to recognize the demands of the elderly with compassion and passion."

Prioritizing the needs of the elderly

Their main objective is to help the elderly solve their immediate day-to-day health and life-management problems, as well as make them emotionally stronger and happier. The long-term goal is that those of us who will be traveling that route, the senior citizens of tomorrow, will be able to adjust their thinking and personalities in order to achieve that preventative goal. The concept of golden years does not exist in India, so many elders get a reaction that is better not shared. Therefore, although individuals in Western nations look forward to retiring and living independently in old age, they need to change the way they sacrifice, save, and reduce costs in order to maintain their lifestyles. Thus, they encourage preventative care, which means taking better care of ourselves to live a happy, healthy older life.

Collaboration with multinational companies

They leaped out the blueprint, what they were going to operate in and what needs they were going to service, and they realized there was a huge list of needs that need to be met, and they didn't want to lose their focus. So the concentration is on elder care; they can't go into the due diligence of any other thing even though they pledge to take care of such services; they can't compromise on security, safety, or professional discharge of duty and they won't be able to cover all of them. As a result, the ideal alternative was to collaborate with companies. Professional companies are aware and engage with them in achieving the outcomes that senOcare promised.

Nominated for the National President's Eldercare Council by the Women's Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Punita Khatter conveyed her thoughts, "It's a trust that they've placed in us. We had been promising to perform some research and awareness efforts in the area of national elder care. As a result, it plays a significantly larger role. It's a difficult challenge to take on. But, We suppose, when people trust you, they help you motivate yourself to be your best."

senOcare is service heavy and tech-driven

 Punita Khatter stated "We cannot scale up in today's world if we do not embrace technology. So, while we recognize that our project needs the human touch, we should not and never eliminate the human touch that is required to service our company's server, which we will refer our users. But all of the other things that can be automated are being automated. We have been automating more and more processes since day one, and with each passing day, We are developing smarter solutions to provide more efficient service to the elders using the technology. So they aren't required to utilize it, but we do so in order to assist them in providing better service.  Also, because we're providing 70+ services and we have more than two dozen supplies, you can't possibly do it with a spreadsheet; it has to be system-driven, recorded, and graded, and there's no doubt in our opinion that technology needs to be embraced from the start. And, in the future, we're even teaming up with an American firm for specific technologies that will aid us in preventative care and healthcare monitoring in particular. As a result, center care is a wonderful blend of technology and personalized service."

senOcare is being scaled up

They begin each day by doing the most difficult tasks first. So, when you want to start a project, you first figure out what would get in the way of scaling up, and then you crack it. And once you've cracked it, scaling up isn't an issue. As time passes, they become more aware of the issues that may arise, which is why technology is something they can grade from phase one. There are some things that must be done in the service section as well. Scaling might be a challenge, but it is one that has been addressed since the beginning.

(Edited by Shweta Yadav)