The world in 2026: how should we care for the elderly?
In Gabe’s original blog, found here, he asks himself what he wants elderly care to look like and what kind of life the elderly should be living as they age. Gabe believes there are four key priorities that both public and private leaders can do to support the aging demographics.
- Improve independence via remote care
- Keep the elderly connected to their families with technologies like Skype, email, and social media
- Involve the elderly in their community to help them feel involved and active
- Productivity of the healthcare system to help healthcare professionals spend more time on patient-facing activities
These four priorities can be met by creating policies that allow technologies like the cloud, data sharing, sensors, and predictive analytics. Data sharing between healthcare workers, pharmacists, and the patients enables integrated and personalized healthcare. Predictive analytics can help identify accidents or health concerns before they occur. Cloud empowers all of the technologies to work, will help create an efficient work flow, and improve productivity.
2026 may feel far away, but with incremental changes starting now, we can vastly improve healthcare for the elderly.
