7 research outputs found
Health and aged care enabled by information technology
[Abstract]: One of the challenges facing health and welfare policymakers
as well as researchers in most developed countries is the increasing
demand for aging services and aged care. Low birth rates and rapid
increases in the percentages of elderly people make aging and aged care
one of the top-priority issues among the national agenda of many countries.
The responses of governments have included initiatives to extend
productiveworking lives and promote self-funded retirement; to promote
healthy, active aging; and to encourage more care to be delivered in home
and community settings. Technology will be a major enabler of these
strategies. People requiring health services are increasingly being offered
more care in their own homes and community settings as an alternative
to hospital admission and to delay or avoid moving into institutional care.
Research is providing intelligent technology to enable care in the home
as well as to monitor safety, security, and quality. Innovation will provide
greater independence and better access to care in their own homes
for the elderly, sufferers of chronic illness, and persons with disability
and reduce the incidence of hospital admissions and the length of stay
when admissions do occur. Technologies will support families and professional
caregivers and are expected to reduce costs. This paper reports on
developments in technology to support care for the aged in home and
community settings