Decentralised Healthcare

Imagine a world where healthcare is seamlessly integrated into every aspect of urban life. In this future, technology, urban design, and health policy converge to create environments that proactively support well-being. This vision, often referred to as 'Population Health,' shifts the focus from reactive treatments to proactive wellness, embedding health into our daily routines and urban landscapes. This article continues the discussion from our previous piece, where we explored the potential of virtual healthcare in shaping future urban environments.

Traditional healthcare typically begins with an event, such as an injury or the onset of symptoms, prompting us to seek treatment. But what if staying well was an integral part of our daily lives? What if our urban spaces actively encouraged healthier decisions that benefit both us and the environment? By harnessing data from smart cities and IoT gadgets, we can nudge our behaviours and patterns towards better health outcomes. This article explores these questions from an urban planning and built environment standpoint.

How Will Our Cities Be Different in the Future?

So, what might this system look like? Singapore’s Healthier SG Initiative proposes a shift from treating patients to treating residents. The concept is that care should be tailored to the resident rather than the patient having to adapt to the care. This model envisions care being delivered in the home, in collaboration with the family doctor, and as much care as possible taking place outside of acute facilities. This approach also extends to ageing in the community. What kind of infrastructure is needed to support these services, and how might our future spaces be shaped in these new scenarios? In this section, we will explore some of these key spaces and speculate on the role that technology might play in these areas.

We foresee the city as a network of places where healthcare follows you, where we treat citizens, not patients.

Public Spaces & Housing Estates

Visualise public plazas with vibrant, interactive artworks that reflect the community’s health. These data-driven displays, informed by anonymised health data, subtly nudge citizens towards healthier choices. For example, artworks could show insights into neighbourhood dietary habits, encouraging more conscious decisions about salt intake or physical activity. Autonomous vehicles, transformed into mobile clinics, could provide convenient healthcare access for busy commuters, ensuring timely medical attention without disrupting daily routines. These consultations could be conducted with a physical doctor in the pod or via telehealth medicine.

In the heart of Singapore’s housing estates, spaces are transformed into dynamic health hubs. Equipped with IoT gym equipment and AI-powered fitness apps, these spaces offer personalised workouts and real-time health monitoring. The workouts, tracked using wearables and gym devices, provide data to health providers for informed check-ups.

Urban farming initiatives, guided by community health data, ensure residents have access to fresh, nutritious produce, directly addressing local nutritional needs. For example, sensors within the wastewater network could identify nutrition deficiencies, helping to inform urban farming efforts. Additionally, public spaces can host community classes informed by health data, offering more impactful programmes for the health departments and citizens.

At Home

Smart home technologies have revolutionised personalised healthcare. Today, devices can see, hear, and even predict our health needs, offering tailored advice and monitoring. However, with these advancements come new privacy challenges. Our solutions are designed to protect user data while delivering exceptional health benefits, ensuring that our connected homes remain safe and secure. For instance, AI-driven health assistants can monitor daily habits and provide personalised health recommendations while adhering to strict data privacy standards.

Digital Enablement

Robust digital infrastructure is crucial to realising this vision of decentralised healthcare. Towns, cities, and countries must have seamless connectivity to support the myriad of smart technologies and data-driven solutions we envision. High-speed internet, widespread IoT networks, and reliable data centres form the backbone of this infrastructure, ensuring that healthcare services are always accessible and efficient.

Furthermore, the role of AI in healthcare cannot be overstated. The advanced digital infrastructure and smart technologies discussed earlier lay the foundation for innovative AI applications. Imagine having an AI doctor on call 24/7, ready to answer questions, keep people with dementia safe, or check in on elderly parents. This AI doctor would not replace human interaction but augment it, providing better care and more frequent check-ins. For instance, an AI system could alert family members if an elderly parent hasn't taken their medication or has experienced a fall. These AI-driven solutions enhance our ability to care for loved ones, offering peace of mind and ensuring timely intervention when needed. However, such services are only possible with the underlying infrastructure and technologies, such as those described in this article, in place.

Conclusion

Technology holds immense potential to revolutionise healthcare delivery, shifting our focus from reactive treatments to proactive wellness approaches. However, to truly harness this power, we must embed community engagement and ethical considerations into the very design process. This means tailoring solutions to real needs, ensuring data privacy, building public trust, and addressing potential biases in technology.

A holistic approach, one that combines technological innovation with integrated urban design, programming, and policy, is key. By prioritising transparency, user autonomy, and equitable access, we can create a future where smart cities empower individuals to take control of their health, not just monitor it.

Let's work together to build a future where technology serves as a catalyst for healthier, happier communities. Let's create smart cities that prioritise people, not just data.