Smart Solutions for an ageing future
Over the next several decades, population ageing will have a range of implications for Australia, including; health, size of the working-age population, housing and demand for skilled labour.
Like most developed countries, Australia's population is ageing as a result of sustained low fertility and increasing life expectancy. This has resulted in proportionally fewer children (under 15 years of age) in the population and a proportionally larger increase in those aged 65 and over.
In the ten years to 2016, the ABS found that the proportion of Australia's population aged 15-64 years remained fairly stable, decreasing from 66.6% to 65.9% of the total population. During the same period, the proportion of people aged 65 years and over increased from 12.0% to 15.3% and the proportion of people aged 85 years and over almost doubled from 1.1% of the total population in 1996 to 2.0% in 2016. Conversely, the proportion aged under 15 years decreased from 21.4% to 18.8%. Net effect – growing number of retirees, fewer young enthusiastic workers.
The impact on city planning and citizen health management from an aging population is likely to be significant, as demand for residential and in-patient services increases. Japan is dealing with the growth in the number of persons with type 2 diabetics, a problem compounded by the increasing age of sufferers and a reduction in activity levels from that group.
Using Internet of Things sensors along with big data analytics and ubiquitous networking technology offers a promising approach to the problem. Japan, for instance, is monitoring number of steps, sedentary activity, nutrition and other lifestyle factors via a number of sensors to encourage healthy behaviour in high risk individuals aged 20-65. In New Zealand, startup Jubl in conjunction with insurance provider BUPA and Samsung have used smart wearables to offer alert and monitoring to aged individuals, increasing their independence and delaying entry into residential care. Fujitsu in Japan monitors the activity of over 600,000 elderly to provide similar services.
Wearables players such as Apple, with their latest Watch 4, are incorporating increasingly sensitive heartbeat and activity monitors along with fall detection and emergency alert features. In addition, Japan is rolling out various kinds of IoT devices to help society better deal with aging. For instance, smart tags inserted into shoes and bags can help track dementia patients who repeatedly wander off, while washable UHF tags in hospital bed sheets can alert administrators about when it’s time for disposal. Examples of other startups include Tokyo-based smart fabric company Mitsufuji where IoT sensors are being integrated into clothing. Mitsufuji has also worked with university researchers to develop algorithms that work with smartwear to detect when heat stroke may occur.
With increasing levels of urbanization (76% of Australia’s populations resides in one of its top 10 cities, 52% in the top 3) and one of the lowest population density outside cities, the challenges of aged care arise from both high density urban environments and few people over a massive geographical area. While Australia is still to approach Japan’s level of 26% of population over age 65 (as of 2014), a 3% increase over a decade indicates that the time to examine digital solutions to support independence for an aging population is near upon us.