“Aging is not lost youth, but a new opportunity and strength,” said Betty Friedan, the American writer and activist credited with reviving the waning feminist wave. But that is not the mirror we look into. We do not plan for retirement, we do not invest in our ability to keep living our passions or pursuing our interests. Instead, we think of our children as our investments - children who unfortunately have come into a world so complex and demanding that they scarcely have time for themselves. Many of them can no longer afford an independent lifestyle or even small indulgences.
This is an AI-driven, technology-driven era where humans are struggling to redefine life. The one we knew no longer exists. So when autumn sets in, how many of us are truly ready with warm quilts and glowing fires?
It takes a lifetime of sleepless nights - juggling work deadlines with family demands, staying awake because your child coughed through the night or spiked a fever, enduring sharp criticism at work for missed deadlines when family came first, and running alongside your children on school tracks just to show them you are present in their lives. It means coming home to cook dinner, wash dishes, make beds, or cutting budgets to plan a vacation because your children want it. It means leaving early in the mornings to drop them at school and arriving at work ahead of time to catch up on assignments - only to receive that urgent call from school: your child is hurt and you drop everything to rush to their side. I speak for both parents.
You do all of this for decades - pouring yourself into the roles of parent, professional, and caregiver. Then somewhere along the way, you slide into senior age and suddenly find yourself cast as an extra in the very machine you helped build - a machine that has recruited younger cogs and now regards your experience, wisdom and years of sacrifice not as assets but as drags on its efficiency.
Sometimes this picture shifts into something empowering, where seniors are cherished as living treasures - repositories of infinite wisdom and unconditional love. But such cases are heartbreakingly rare. More often, the elderly become weekend obligations or burdens that families shoulder out of reluctant duty.
The recent surge in global migration has fractured this landscape even further. Children have not just moved down the lane; they have crossed continents. Parents remain in Pakistan, caught between visa complexities and their children’s reluctance to bring them along. Some do migrate, only to return - drawn back by the irreplaceable warmth of home and the deep roots they have cultivated here, as opposed to becoming stationary fixtures in the fast-paced, functional life abroad.
This is a multidimensional crisis unfolding across every stratum of our society. The stark reality beneath this complexity is Pakistan’s growing aging population which demands care and recognition of their continued value. We need to move beyond viewing them as dependents and instead integrate them meaningfully into our economic ecosystem - not in traditional corporate roles, but in ways that harness their experience for significant socio-economic impact.
This is a vast topic, one that I have been compelled to think about deeply - often delving into it with Dr Lubna Pal (Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Fellowship Director for the Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Fellowship Programme at Yale). Lubna is very keen to contribute to the ideation of a long-term setup in this regard and we frequently exchange notes.
And then came Yusra. I first met Yusra during one of my visits to the hospital with my mother and I credit her not only for an excellent prognosis but also for the empathy and speed with which she organised everything and remained present throughout the process. At the time, I did not know her personally, but our paths continued to cross - albeit infrequently - in the years that followed.
Most recently, I found her sitting next to me at a salon and learned that she now leads ‘Sehat Kahani’ (Home Healthcare), an organisation primarily dedicated to telemedicine and geriatric care, now expanding into critical care. Founded by Dr Sara Saeed Khurram (CEO) and Dr Iffat Zafar (Co-founder), the team has come a long way and is planning even greater achievements ahead.
I followed up by carving out a crucial hour from her busy schedule to understand what Sehat Kahani is envisioning. Yusra had a lot to share, much of which I have recounted here as a story for all of us.
Sehat Kahani is a medical start-up founded eight years ago, initially focusing on telemedicine. While it served various demographics, the company developed a particular focus on geriatric and critical care to address a pressing issue: Pakistan is writing off its elderly population -15 million people, about 7 per cent of the total population - and that needs to change.
The challenge Yusra identified runs deeper than healthcare logistics; it is rooted in the shifting social dynamics of Pakistan. The result is a growing population of isolated seniors who arrive at emergency rooms completely alone, with no family members to accompany them - simply because there is no one left at home.
Yusra explained how her background in emergency medicine has been instrumental in shaping her approach to geriatric care. She emphasised the critical importance of being prompt and pre-emptive - qualities that are essential when treating elderly patients who often ignore minor health issues until they escalate into major crises. She has witnessed too many cases where early intervention could have prevented serious complications, with elderly patients presenting with preventable conditions such as foul odours, bed sores, and advanced illnesses that could have been managed far more effectively with proper ongoing care. By the time these patients reach medical facilities, the situation has already become hopeless.
Mental health represents another severely under-addressed aspect of geriatric care that Yusra has prioritised. With dementia rates rising across Pakistan, she has observed increasing instances of psychosis and aggression among elderly patients. These individuals urgently need opportunities to talk, requiring counselling and therapy services that are often unavailable or financially inaccessible. In response, Sehat Kahani has established a dedicated mental health vertical, connecting patients with psychologists and psychiatrists. The company’s telemedicine approach has proven especially valuable, as transporting elderly patients to mental health appointments had previously posed an insurmountable challenge for many families.
Sehat Kahani’s comprehensive solution represents what Yusra describes as a “one-stop” approach to healthcare delivery. The company operates 65 e-clinics across Pakistan, including in Azad Kashmir, many of them staffed by female doctors working from home - an arrangement that simultaneously addresses healthcare needs and the social challenges facing women in Pakistan’s workforce. Some of the most remote locations, such as the clinic in Mitti in Tharparkar, operate with just one employee equipped with a digital tablet that connects patients directly to specialised consultants.
The company’s 24/7 consultancy services integrate seamlessly with insurance partnerships, pharmacy services, and comprehensive home care options. Most innovatively, all diagnostic equipment - including machines for ECGs, X-rays, and laboratory testing - can be transported directly to patients’ homes, eliminating the transportation challenges and long waiting times that often prevent elderly patients from receiving proper care. With over 4 million consultations and 10,000 pharmacy visits already completed, the organisation is now set to expand its impact by leaps and bounds.
Economic barriers to geriatric care remain a persistent challenge that Sehat Kahani addresses through strategic partnerships. Tertiary care packages are expensive, physiotherapy costs are prohibitive for many families and long-term management requires sustained financial investment that stretches family budgets beyond their limits. To combat these obstacles, they collaborates with major institutions (1100 so far) including banks and utility providers, to make quality care more accessible. The company has recently partnered with the Fauji Foundation to establish e-clinics, small pharmacies offering free medication deliveries, to make healthcare economically viable for families already facing financial strain.
With the complexities of the younger generation’s approach and response, I raised the question of mental health. Sehat Kahani has expanded its scope to address health challenges across all age groups, including bullying, obesity, and depression. This is a cross-functional framework, where an elderly diabetic patient can effectively serve as a wise counsellor to a young person struggling with mental health challenges, creating a more sustainable and comprehensive healthcare model. Yusra mentioned Japan’s ‘Rent a Grandma’ campaign in this regard, and when I read about it, I was moved to tears. Civilised societies create respectful niches for their communities. We can replicate this for immense impact; the idea is to roll it out.
The cultural obstacles Yusra navigates are as complex as the medical ones. She has observed a troubling lack of empathy toward the elderly in contemporary Pakistani society. While women are becoming increasingly aware of healthcare needs - a positive development - many families still rely on uneducated domestic help who may not recognise critical warning signs or know how to provide appropriate care. The migration crisis compounds these challenges: when families are scattered across continents, traditional support systems collapse entirely.
Looking toward the future, the team envisions expanding Sehat Kahani’s impact beyond Pakistan’s borders. The company is preparing to launch operations in Dubai through a community innovation hub, creating opportunities to serve Pakistani diaspora communities who face unique challenges in accessing culturally sensitive healthcare. The broader vision focuses on equalising healthcare access between Pakistan’s urban centres and rural areas by leveraging technology to bridge gaps that have historically left rural populations underserved.
Yet technology alone cannot solve the fundamental issue. Pakistan needs a complete mind-set shift regarding aging and elderly care. Most people do not plan for their senior years, neglecting crucial conversations about aging, long-term care, and the basic dignity that elderly individuals deserve. Normalising these discussions is a critical step toward creating sustainable change.
For families currently struggling with elderly care, intervention before crisis is essential. Waiting until the situation becomes hopeless wastes precious time and resources while compromising the dignity and quality of life of elderly family members. What is needed is a change in mind-set, one that views quality geriatric care not as a luxury but as a fundamental human right.
Walking toward my 60s, this topic strikes a deep chord every time I reflect on it. I have seen too many of my elders lose their productivity when they didn’t need to, while others continued working and living fully until the very end. With both examples before me, I envision a broader landscape where aging is embraced as an opportunity to pivot life like never before - to immerse ourselves in passions, whether that means traveling, engaging in social work, teaching at government schools, telling stories to children in villages and hospitals, climbing mountains, sitting around bonfires and singing with friends, mentoring grandchildren, or simply curling up in a lazy chair with our favourite books or movies. Reaching such a vision will require massive collaboration across the public and private sectors, guided by consciously committed stakeholders.
Sehat Kahani has already addressed one major challenge: preserving dignity while providing essential assistance at the doorstep, at a quarter of the usual cost. Their other verticals, such as counselling and cross-functional collaboration, remain a work in progress, and I hope to see them grow stronger.
For now, an app on the screen has become a doorway to tremendous ease and dignity. I wish them heartfelt success.
The author is a content strategist, educationist, researcher, and a corporate host. She can be reached at shaha.jamshedgmail.com