Steve Jobs so bravely articulated in his remarkable
speech to Stanford graduates in 2005 when he put death at the centre-stage.
First, he referred to death as "useful", and then he went on to
remind his audience about something the young adults were probably reluctant to
acknowledge on the day of graduation: that they would all age and die. It is
the one universal human experience. And, finally, he claimed that death
"is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change
agent…” This kind of thought process from various philanthropists has led to
multiple innovations in the health and wellness industry to leverage the
technology to combat the deadly diseases trying to conquer death leading to an
increase in life expectancy. According to World Health organization it is
projected by 2020 chronic diseases will account for 75% of all deaths
worldwide
This blog post will connect with you emotionally
thru the situations we are today living in and provide practical ways to
unleash the emerging technology and overcome an area of our mid-life crisis in
lieu with Elder / Senior Citizen Care.
According to the State of Elderly in India report
released by the non-profit organization Helpage India by 2021, the elderly in
the country will number 143 million, the report said. Presently, the elderly in
divided into three categories: the young old (60-70) the middle-aged old
(70-80) and the oldest old (80 plus). The increase in life expectancy the
population of those aged 60+ will increase by 270% and out of this, the oldest
old segment, which is the most vulnerable on account of suffering from
disabilities, diseases, terminal illness and dementia, is also the largest
growing segment of the elderly population, at a rate of 500%.
The traditional Indian society and the joint family
system had in built fault tolerant reliable system for all the family members
before the nuclear family concept took over the better parts of it. This is
especially true for young ones and elder ones reducing them to a compulsion to
be more self-dependent. Most often than not, the elderly people are exposed to
emotional, physical and financial insecurity of which the most common
challenges faced by the elderly is the need to ensure their medical needs are
fulfilled. Today the elderly are both economically and emotionally
dependent on a kids who stay away from the beloved ones as the critical need to
financially earn and create their career graph beckons, In a distant city,
earning livelihood as a prey to rapid urbanization, competitive lifestyle,
growing aspiration for more lifestyle products and an insatiable desire to get
ahead keeps then on their toes and rarely gives them opportunity to take care
of the beloved ones while they struggle themselves to strike a work-life
balance.
All of these are coming at a dearly social cost.
Today, the lack of time to spend with family members, ever increasing
work pressures, deadline driven work environment, targets to accomplish,
stressed commuting etc… and we are compromising fast and implicitly thereby
losing the emotional bonding with kith and kin and hence the “Relationships”…..starting with spouse at our doorstep.
Some have taken that to be a fad to brag about how critical they are for their
employer. Mothers are busy all day slogging for providing the best
support systems at home, kids are into rat race so they don’t get time to bond
with grand-parents, grand-parents are killing time with the ibox or web-serials
and hence the entire house provides a scenario of a busy corporate house.This
creates a void in the elderly senior citizens who are left to deal with life
and their issues on their own, turning themselves into introverts lest they
disturb the rhythm of other lives around them and create the risk of falling
into health black-hole which can prove costly.
Kids of the parents who stay far away, realize
their compulsions between how they many a times are incapacitated to maintain
the balance which otherwise they would have cherished to. What do the elders
so? In cases of urgent need, where do they go? Who do they speak to? But there
are many who are blind-sighted to even notice what they are missing? Does it
hound them? They shudder when they think it’s just a matter of few more years
when they too will qualify to become next batch of senior citizen...!!!
In a bid to find a solution to this, a quite
revolution is brewing across the healthcare industry. While heightened patient
awareness has led to demands for better health services, remote care and health
monitoring for senior citizens, especially for those sets whose kids are far
away but would still like to keep a tab and reach out help if needed. Requirements for remote Treatment of complex chronic conditions, with
updated PHRs and statistical parametric records have been demanding smarter
healthcare systems which through various connected devices should enable
measurement and effective treatment of old-age issues which does not seem too
far from reach with the advances in the technology at hand.
- In a medical emergency, timely provisioning of help is the essence.
Minutes can make the difference between life and death; disability and
recovery. By lessening the time it takes to diagnose and treat a patient,
smart, connected devices, will lead to fundamental improvements in
emergency medical care
- Instead of hospitalizing senior citizens a
home care option can be extended and alternative for constant
physiological monitoring with minimal people intervention using
IoT-driven, non-invasive monitoring. This type of solution employs sensors
to collect comprehensive physiological information and uses gateways and
the cloud to store the information, then send the data wirelessly to
caregivers for further analysis and review. It replaces the process of
having a health professional come by at regular intervals to check the
patient’s vital signs, instead providing a continuous automated flow of
information
- Smart sensors, which combine a sensor and a microcontroller, make
it possible to harness the power of the IoT for healthcare by accurately
measuring, monitoring and analysing a variety of health status indicators.
These can include basic vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure,
as well as levels of glucose or oxygen saturation in the blood. Smart
sensors can even be incorporated into pill bottles and connected to the
network to indicate whether a patient has taken a scheduled dose of
medication
- As per the WHO 2014 statistics every year
worldwide there are 32.4 million heart
attacks and strokes that lead to 14 million deaths.
About 85% of strokes are
ischemic, and these patients can be treated within the first 3 to 4.5
hours and 15% of the strokes are
hemorrhagic. Patients suffering Ischemic stroke if given tissue
plasminogen activator have a very great chance of recovery but the doctor
needs to diagnose if the stroke is Ischemic or hemorrhagic which needs a
CT Scan. Most of the time today especially with traffic conditions in
India is wasted only to get to the hospital. Here is where a use case of
connected devices in the ambulance can help reduce time and transmit
information while in transit for the care giver to be ready for action
when the patient arrives saving the time and increase the chances of
survival
- One of the prominent statistics from the
American journal of medical research indicates at least 75% of adults are non-adherent to physician
prescribed treatment and medication in one or many ways with respect to
medication. The economic impact of non-adherence is estimated to cost $100
billion annually. IoT medication pumps are effective at adequately dosing
medications, without the risks of overdose or missed doses that are
present when medications are administered manually, also with IoT sensors
an alarming mechanism will not only set an indication to elders at home to
take medication but also will monitor and give feedback to the care
giver
- Bio-electronic therapies is just beginning to ramp up and that in
the future many conditions could be treated with electrical impulses,
leveraging IoT in healthcare with the implants both the provider and the
care taker will receive specific feedback on various vital parameters that
can be monitored proactively with predictive analytics and set course
correction which will add a whole new dimension especially to the senior
citizen health care treating aliments like Arthritis, Respiratory
conditions, Heart diseases, etc…
- A trend from the west which will soon catch up
in the east in the coming years is the concept of “aging in the place”
where the elder citizens especially men wish to stay back independently in
their homes, while another trend is commonly seen in senior women is home
sharing, where two or more than two women share a home teaming up as
senior roommates. Affordable remote monitoring will become popular with
digitally savvy millennials increasingly look to sensors and wearable tech
to keep track of parents and grandparents. For Example… Sensara is a
remote monitoring system and app that uses small, unobtrusive sensors to
keep on eye on elderly family members and friends who live on their
own
- Goode Intelligence forecasts that by 2019 there will be 5.5 billion users of mobile and wearable
biometric technology around the globe. Apple is the leading manufacturer
of biometric-mobile devices, and HealthKit is said to have an “Emergency
Access” feature where medical information can be shared through the
“Medical ID” app. Apple has also partnered with EPIC and their MyChart app
to capture physical vitals and other patient data, and make this
information available to physicians via the HER
- GreenPeak Senior Lifestyle System consists of just four sensors and
a gateway. One sensor is located in the bedroom, one in the kitchen, one
in the bathroom and one on the front door. These sensors track the
movement of a senior or disabled resident in the home, and by using ZigBee
and a ZigBee gateway, transmits the information into a cloud intelligence
app. Within a period of one or two weeks, the cloud intelligence app
learns the “normal” behavior and activities of the household. When does
the resident awaken, when does he go to the bathroom, when does he make
breakfast, when does he usually leave the home and return. Once the normal
behavior pattern is learned, if there is a sudden or dramatic change in
the anticipated movement, then an alert can be sent to family members or
caregivers.
- The BodyGuardian Sensor performs cardiac ECG and rhythm monitoring.
A body worn sensor allows individuals to remain active and independent
while their heart and general health are being monitored. The patient data
is wirelessly delivered to the Preventice Care Platform, a cloud-based
mHealth platform that collects real-time data from devices and delivers
information to physicians
- BeClose says it takes less than 15 minutes to set up sensors to monitor a
senior’s routine that can be viewed through a web dashboard. Emergency
alerts are also provided via email, text message, or phone. Additionally,
the system is smart enough to recognize gradual changes or adjusted trends
in the senior’s lifestyle. For example, if they are getting out of bed
later, or it is taking them longer to get to the kitchen, or if they no
longer leave the house, a message can be sent to the family alerting them
of this change
- Old people have tendency to fall and injure
themselves.Active Protective can help them in this area. This smart
garment detects a fall before we hit the floor. It uses 3D sensors to
determine falls and crashes in progress, and then deploys wearable airbags
in textile in order to protect our hips from braking. This might be a
good thing to consider when hip fractures are so often in older
population. While fall detection is not for everyone, it can be the
difference between life and death for those who need it. Falls can result in
critical injuries, like those to the head and hips, and are the leading
cause of loss of independence for the elderly. The top performers in the
Fall Detection sensor are Medical Guardian, LifeCall, and Medical Care
Alert
- WalkJoy, a wearable aimed at helping people
with neuropathy who have trouble maintaining balance and walking.
Individuals who suffer from the nerve problem—most of whom are older—lose
feeling in their feet and sometimes calves and knees and, as a result,
find it difficult to determine where their foot is in space, leading to
frequent falls. The device, which fits right below the knee with a Velcro
strap, contains a variety of sensors able to detect velocity and the angle
of the foot. With that data, the system fires on the heel as it strikes the
ground, causing the motor system to revive and sending appropriate
messages to the brain
- The EverThere has hands-free voice
communication, and it can even make a call if the wearer isn’t able to do
so herself. Internal GPS allows the care center to determine the user’s
location and send an ambulance or call a loved one
- Another important fact of life especially in
the senior citizen community is of Depression. A survey from Times of
India group indicates 21.9% of
elderly citizen in India suffer depression. One of the causes for
depression clearly stated is loneliness. While antidepressant drugs are
administered the IoT coupled with augmented reality and social platforms
can being the senior citizens close to their loved ones and also with the
community then often interact with. Proactive mood aware wearable’s will
trigger messages to their near and dear ones who can act immediately to
help the elderly bring back smile and cheer on their faces and avert any
kind of mood disorders
Although earlier generations may not have been
raised in such a technologically advanced time, statistics show that a large
majority of this demographic understands the need to join the digital
revolution. Now more than ever, the elderly are engaging in this sphere more
often than healthcare providers seem to recognize. Research suggests that a
significant number of senior citizens are engaging digitally, but–for those who
aren’t– why not? Most likely, this is due to ignorance or inexperience. As
their healthcare provider and YOU probably
the most important person in their life, it would be wise, as well as
appreciated, if YOU were to take their hand,
and pull them into the 21st century by educating them on how to engage in a
digital world.
Smart citizen is what they have made you to live in
today’s competitive smart city capable of making smart choices using smart
devices … it’s time to look back at our parents and grandparents and gift them
smart care … think thru.
