As we approach another phase in the technological landscape of elderly care, data-driven and data-based solutions are shaping up to become the face of the future. With the emergence of
smart solutions, internet of things (IoT) ecosystems are increasingly becoming the optimal choice in telecare and elderly care, which makes the use of data more important. This whitepaper will explore and guide you through the positive impact of smart use of data and its
pivotal role today.
Since its initial conception, telecare services have mostly relied on analogue platforms – with the vast majority of users in Europe today still using wired systems and solutions. While these analogue-based systems might be working just fine as they are now, they will soon be outdated and obsolete when the complete analogue switch-off takes place in the United Kingdom in 2025. This means that analogue platforms will simply cease to function. In fact, as early as 2023, BT will not be selling analogue phone lines anymore, but will instead migrate its customers to a digital network. Aside from the inevitable transition to digital lines and platforms, considering to switch as early as today can significantly mitigate the risks associated with analogue, outdated platforms, as these are neither as reliable, responsive, nor efficient as the digital counterparts are. An example is the simple maintenance of traditional alarm systems – analogue platforms still rely heavily on human input, while firmware updates and maintenance routines can be delivered instantly with digital solutions.
The digital and smart platforms available today are simply much more effective, allowing the use of solutions that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of both care providers and care receivers. Moreover, IoT-based systems and solutions can address multiple problems at once, since the devices can be integrated into a single ecosystem that allows the devices to work in synergy with each other.
Read more: The Effects and Benefits of Transitioning from Analogue to Digital Telecare Solutions
As mentioned earlier, the use of data is playing a pivotal role in the development of elderly care solutions today. Following are some ways data-driven systems and solutions are driving the industry forward.
1. Artificial intelligence (AI) in care solutions – artificial intelligence is defined as “the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.” In a nutshell, the goal of AI is to imitate and replicate human behaviour and intelligence to address different problems and challenges. In elderly care, an example of the use and implementation are sensors that can study and learn the movement and behavioural patterns of both care provider and care receiver. If the system detects anything unusual with the behaviour or the patterns previously “learnt” from the care receiver, the care provider is then alerted, preventing possible emergency situations. These systems and devices rely heavily
on the data collected from the patients. Without the information from care receivers, it would not be possible to implement such an advanced and innovative solution.
Read more: Artificial Intelligence and its Role in the Future of Elder Care
2. Anytime, anywhere care also allows anyone with access to the alarm management system – including care workers, relatives of the patient, or response centres – to escalate and handle alarm events, allowing prompt and immediate response to emergencies. This is made possible with real-time data capture and data sharing between different devices and platforms.
First-time visits or first-time virtual consultations with physicians can also potentially be seamless with the availability of patient data, as the health care personnel are now able to access the medical history of the patient, which is securely stored and organised in an interconnected and interoperable platform.
3. Highly personalised solutions through machine learning - machine learning is defined by IBM as “a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer science which focuses on the use of data and algorithms to imitate the way that humans learn, gradually improving its accuracy.”
With machine learning, devices – similar to the previously mentioned AI-powered sensor – can be designed to study the behaviour of care receivers, allowing for a highly personalised user experience. This, again, is only possible through the smart collection and use of data from the users themselves.
Considering how advanced the available and upcoming solutions are becoming in the care industry, implementing these also requires a modern and capable platform that must be
adaptable to the future. This to ensure that users and solutions providers are able to
easily implement upcoming solutions into their own system as they see fit.
The alarm handling workflows must also be easy to understand and at all time efficient, to ensure that everyone in the system is able to carry out orders and tasks with ease. The platform must be open, allowing software developers and vendors to easily work with the integration of their solutions into the platform.
In addition to the highly innovative and advanced solutions these smart and data-driven devices present, cost savings can also be observed by implementing and using them. In fact, with the smart diaper sensors which can accurately monitor the saturationlevels, gross annual cost savings of up to 222K NOK per year and patient has been observed, for an entry fee of only 14K NOK.And this is just one example of how data-driven and smart, modern solutions can provide cost savings for both the providers and the receivers.
With the advent of powerful and data-driven solutions today, partnering with an equally capable and powerful platform provider is crucial to ensure the seamless implementation of these solutions as they become available to the market. Skyresponse offers a 100% cloud-based and future-proof platform, allowing providers to implement these modern solutions and meet the specific needs of their users.