The Path to Intelligent Home-Based Elderly Care Services
Hao Yingying
Institute of Population and Social Development Studies, Henan Academy of Social Sciences
A technological framework for intelligent elderly care development shall be established. Firstly, it is essential to consider the spatial distribution and future trends of the elderly population to strategically plan and deploy new digital infrastructure. This includes the coordinated development of regional intelligent computing infrastructure to foster the integrated digital advancement of urban and rural areas. Efforts should be accelerated to renovate and upgrade homes and communities for elderly-friendliness and intelligence, to modernize traditional elderly care infrastructure, and to refresh community elderly care information platforms. This will enhance the intelligent capabilities of urban and rural infrastructure and integrate digital intelligence into home renovations for the elderly, creating an innovative micro-environment for the intelligent development of home-based elderly care services. Secondly, there should be an increased focus on R&D of intelligent elderly care technologies to address the critical challenges of integrating intelligent technologies with elderly care services. It is crucial to move intelligent technologies from the lab to real-world service pilots, where they can undergo continuous deep learning and algorithmic training. This will overcome the complex technical limitations of home-based elderly care scenarios and provide precise technical support for data collection, processing, circulation, and storage.
The innovative development of the intelligent home-based elderly care industry shall be sped up. Firstly, it is imperative to expedite the establishment of a standardized top-level design for intelligent home-based elderly care services. This includes strengthening institutional frameworks and enacting supporting policies, as well as defining clear responsibilities and technical evaluation standards for intelligent elderly care entities. The development of guidelines for platform data transactions and intelligent product access should be accelerated to regulate the intelligent elderly care market and foster a conducive market environment. The transformation and upgrading of the traditional elderly care industry should be pursued, with a focus on integrating digital technologies into elderly care services to reduce disparities in service access across industries. The full potential of existing social elderly care resources should be leveraged. Additionally, the construction of a professional data information library for the elderly care industry should be accelerated to break down data silos, establish multi-source data sharing for elderly-related information, and remove barriers to data flow. Rules for data application in home-based intelligent elderly care services should be strengthened, along with the establishment of data quality management and privacy protection systems. Secondly, the industry should focus on the intelligent and digital transformation of elderly care services, integrating various elderly care resources to enable cross-regional mobility and sharing of service resources. The intelligent elderly care industry should be deeply integrated with sectors such as healthcare, ecology, tourism, culture, and real estate to achieve differentiated, high-quality development of regional elderly care industries.
Additionally, it is necessary to foster an elderly-friendly intelligent social environment. To encourage the elderly to actively embrace the intelligent era and benefit from the conveniences of intelligent home-based elderly care services, it is necessary to start at the grassroots level of urban and rural communities and enhance the construction of supportive social environments. Firstly, the co-construction and sharing of intelligent facilities in grassroots communities should be strengthened, with an increased focus on the spatial layout of smart service facilities. This will create opportunities for the elderly to experience, learn, and use intelligent elderly care equipment, improving the accessibility of digital and intelligent devices at the grassroots level. Offline spaces and interactive facilities for smart products should be added to provide personalized interactive experiences for the elderly, enhancing their perception of the usefulness and ease of use of intelligent technologies. Secondly, it is important to promote positive aging concepts and strengthen the dissemination of knowledge about intelligent technologies. This will improve the elderly’s knowledge base and digital literacy, reducing resistance to new technologies. Enhancing information sharing and intergenerational interaction within families can reduce anxiety among the elderly and help them avoid becoming overly reliant on digital technologies. Anti-fraud education and public awareness campaigns should be actively conducted, and efforts should be made to combat online rumors and telecom fraud to ensure the elderly can safely enjoy intelligent elderly care services.
Published on July 11, 2024