Last week’s announcement that the state pension age will rise to increase to 68 in 2039 (seven years earlier than previously planned) once again brings into stark focus the ageing demographic of the UK population.
With the proportion of adults aged 70 and above projected to rise until the mid-2040s, it raises the question of how today’s already struggling NHS and Social Care services will cope with ever increasing numbers.
It’s the same problem that’s been challenging the Conservative government, given the 2017 General Election ‘Dementia Tax’ u-turn in the face of overwhelming public objections.
This huge issue will affect everyone, most notably our parents and grandparents. How can the UK (one of the world’s top ten economies, according to the House of Commons) guarantee a good state of health and care with cash strapped and chronically under-resourced NHS and care support services, whether treatment is at home or in residential centres? Especially, with working families increasingly geographically dispersed and struggling to cope with aged relatives needing increasing levels of day-to-day support.
One part of the solution might be closer than we’d imagine: AI (artificial intelligence) enhanced ‘Intelligent Personal Assistants’ (IPAs) coupled to wearable technology.
Think ‘Alexa Grey’, ‘Siri Silver’, ‘Cortana Senior’, and ‘Google (Home) Parlour’. Are you getting the picture?
Both technologies exist; wearables (such as FitBit, Apple’s iWatch, etc.) have become mainstream and IPA systems are selling in the millions and fast catching up. And with IPA and wearable systems being open to third party app developers, the potential is there for a revolution in personalised care services.
The way we see it some ambitious strategic initiatives are required:
1. Further creative development in the interactivity of voice activated personal assistants (IPAs).
2. Greater third-party integration with the above IPAs.
3. Greater data sharing from wearable tech devices (and, by extension, better data segmenting and analysis).
4. An industry agreed roadmap for convergence of these two technologies.
While there may be some proprietary objections about aligning datasets and access rights, there are potential gains for everyone involved. Neither the government nor tech industry policymakers cannot afford to be complacent – action is needed now.
This tide only flows in one direction, as the UK aged population stats (here) and health charity The King’s Fund reporting illustrate.
How might it work?
At a time of fragmented families (geographically and otherwise) and greater social isolation, IPAs offer a lifeline to older people in times of crisis and can provide a virtual companion. AI can already learn from previous interactions so conversations can become more elaborate and more tailored to the service user. The next level would be for IPAs to initiate conversations and ask relevant questions in different ways to gauge mood and attitude, pain levels, speech coherence and general cognitive understanding, as well as other background information.
Wearable tech adds to the personal data repository by recording temperature, blood pressure, amount of movement and perhaps more refined data such as duration of REM sleep state.
If this technological symbiosis facilitates independent or communal living for more senior citizens, why stop there? DOOH has already proven the effectiveness of eye tracker sensors, so why not have a media wall that activates on command?
For those with individual support needs, such as mobility or visual impairment, IPAs offer a gateway to a range of media services, including communication with families and other people outside the home.
https://www.slashgear.com/amazon-echo-calling-and-messaging-takes-on-skype-09484435/
If you’re thoroughly depressed by this point, click here for an alternative vision of IPAs!
Technology aside, there are two key areas of trust to be resolved:
1. Among would-be service users unaccustomed to an intimate (or any) level of hi-tech engagement.
2. The governance, storage and access rights for the data generated.
Content Is King
IPAs can already play live radio and control a television, so surely a reliable interface for catch-up content is only a matter of time?
Content providers could repackage a wide range of new and archive media material in order to meet the demands of this ever-growing ‘vintage pound’ niche market.
The data received from patients would provide a different type of content, allowing Health and Social Care staff to attend a patient fully informed with the latest information already downloaded to a PDA. Paradoxically, this might free up valuable time to make the healthcare professional’s visits more personal.
What Next?
We already know that there are insufficient residential places to meet the needs of our ageing populace. Government bodies, care services and industry leaders need to come together to explore innovative and cost-effective ways of supporting independent living wherever possible. It’s time we had those difficult conversations.
https://www.olderlivingmatters.net