The Journal of mHealth Vol 1 Issue 2 (Apr 2014) | Page 49

Using mHealth to Support Ageing Populations

Using mHealth to Support
Ageing Populations
mHealth and Digital Health services
have long been championed for their
potential to help healthcare organisations deal with the issues arising from
ageing populations, and the growing
need for the provision of effective (and
crucially) affordable wide-scale elderly
care.
There have been many small-scale
projects introduced in this field that
have varied in results. As we see digital
health beginning to become integral in
the delivery of services, we are likely
to see both a rise in the number of
these schemes and hopefully a resulting
increase in the beneficial outcomes.
One element that always needs to be
assessed in these cases is the patient
opinion of digital services and the
benefits they feel may be delivered.
Digital services have the potential to
be extremely engaging and increase
patient confidence. The support that
can be provided through the effective
delivery of connected services can help
people to become more in control, and
to feel supported with their health and
care requirements. However, technology can equally be isolating, particularly
where there is a lack of understanding,
knowledge or competency when it
comes to interacting with the relevant
solutions.
Solutions that utilise digital delivery
must therefore be inclusive, engaging
and above all open to all. This can be
a hard balance to get right. That said
there is a growing demand for these
digital services. We see in the US with
the introduction of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) the desire among healthcare consumers of all ages to have the
option of using or engaging with connected health provision. In the UK, a
recent study by Carers UK, examined

public attitudes to using technology
to support caring for older and disabled family members and found many
people to be open to propositions, providing that the necessary support and
engagement can be delivered.

relatives on Skype to booking a lastminute.com holiday, buying insurance
on comparison websites and using
online banking services – technology
is often a normal and essential part of
daily living.

The report uncovers a number of very
interesting results. Not least the fact
that many people surveyed are unaware,
uneducated, or just not interested in
technology solutions as a means of
managing their personal health or care
needs as well as those of family and
friends, particularly when compared
with their use of technology in other
aspects of their life. This highlights the
need for education, and engagement
when it comes to the introduction and
delivery of digital health services.

Our polling showed that:

Are people closed off to the idea of digital
health provision, or do they simply require a
better means of finding out about the potential
of the solutions on offer?
The results of this report can be seen
below. Reproduced with permission
from Carers UK.

POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE
– TRANSFORMING
PUBLIC AWARENESS AND
DEMAND FOR HEALTH
AND CARE TECHNOLOGY
In July 2013, Carers UK commissioned
YouGov to examine public attitudes to
using technology to support caring for
older and disabled loved ones.
Technology enables shopping, chatting
and leisure. But not caring.
For many people, technology is fully
embedded in their lives. From burglar
alarms to sat-navs, from chatting with

»

More than 7 in 10 people in the UK
use technology to either bank, pay
bills, shop or communicate

»

6 in 10 use technology in leisure
activities (61%) or travel (58%)

»

62% now use social networking
such as Facebook or Twitter

»

Only 2% of the population say that
technology doesn’t feature in their
lives

Yet when we asked the public about the
different ways in which they used technology in their lives, health and care
came in last place.
»

Fewer than 1 in 3 (30%) people use
technology to support health and
care

Coming behind banking, shopping,
communicating, social networking, leisure, travel, work, learning and education – health and care was the area in
which the fewest people used technology.

AN ISSUE FOR ALL
GENERATIONS
Managing health conditions and needing care are often seen primarily as
issues associated with ageing.
Continued on page 48

The Journal of mHealth

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