How Janet Kamendi Is Helping Kenyans Abroad Care for Their Ageing Parents

After nearly two decades in the United States, nurse practitioner Janet Kamendi returned to Kenya in 2021 to provide personalised healthcare support for elderly parents whose children live abroad.

For many Kenyans living overseas, caring for ageing parents remains a major responsibility. The cultural expectation to support and care for elderly relatives is deeply rooted, but distance can make that responsibility difficult to fulfil.

Many diaspora families send money home through remittance services such as LemFi to cover medical expenses. However, financial support does not always ensure that parents receive the care they need. Families may still worry about whether prescriptions are being followed, who will accompany a parent to a specialist appointment or what will happen during a medical emergency.

Managing healthcare from another country can often mean relying on phone calls and occasional updates, leaving families uncertain about what is happening on the ground. Kamendi returned to Nairobi with the aim of addressing this gap. After building a career as a nurse practitioner in the US, she established Althena Health, a nurse concierge service designed to help families manage healthcare for elderly relatives in Kenya.

The service provides personalised support beyond what is typically available through conventional clinics. Nurses accompany patients to medical appointments, help them understand complex medical information and provide detailed updates to relatives living abroad.

Althena Health also supports chronic disease management and medication adherence. Its nurses can oversee hospital discharges and follow-up care, helping to reduce the risk of complications after a patient returns home.

Kamendi has taken an intentionally personal approach to the service. She prefers to focus on working directly with patients, listening to their concerns and helping families navigate Kenya's healthcare system. Althena Health works with a network of local clinics and pharmacies to coordinate care.

The model reflects the changing needs of Kenyan families whose members are increasingly spread across different countries. Remittances remain an important source of financial support, but families may also need services that ensure the money they send contributes to consistent and reliable medical care.

For diaspora families, the nurse concierge model provides a way to remain involved in their parents' healthcare despite living thousands of miles away. It combines medical oversight with regular communication, allowing relatives abroad to monitor care without having to manage every aspect of it remotely.