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The caring computer: The role of information & telecommunications technologies in aged care
Author(s) -
Wilson Laurie
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2001.tb00380.x
Subject(s) - telemedicine , government (linguistics) , health care , business , aged care , nursing , internet privacy , telecommunications , medicine , public relations , gerontology , economic growth , political science , computer science , economics , linguistics , philosophy
The challenges to the health system posed by increasing health costs and ageing populations are well documented. An inevitable consequence seems likely to be a substantial increase in services provided directly to individuals in their homes, rather than through institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and the like. Information and telecommunications technologies are already playing a rapidly increasing role in health care through the introduction of telemedicine techniques and electronic health records. Australia is already a significant player in both of these areas, through, for example, the use of telemedicine in rural areas and the Federal Government's recently‐announced HealthConnect Initiative. The impact on health consumers has so far been minimal, particularly in aged care. However, some “smart” systems are already finding their way into aged care, a recently‐introduced fall detector [1] being a prime example.