Digital health, a solution for healthy aging
Well yes, it is the latest trend in nursing homes. And although, a priori, the terms ”digitization” and ”elderly person” seem incompatible, the reality is quite different and that is that although they were not born with a laptop under their arms, our current generations of older people do not they lag behind when it comes to digitization.
But before getting into the matter, let’s deal a little with the issue of population aging that is currently experienced in the world.
According to the United Nations Organization (ONU), in the year 2050 the number of people who will exceed 60 years of age will be close to 2.1 billion, which represents a growth of almost 7 points with respect to the data that consists of 2020 It is also expected that the number of people aged 80 and over will triple to 426 million.
This is largely because people are living longer than ever before. Most of the population has a life expectancy equal to or greater than 60 years. Reason for which there is an increase in the proportion of older people in the world population.
For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) speaks of aging as the result of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time, which leads to a gradual decline in physical and mental capacities. , to an increased risk of disease and, ultimately, death.
This, as can be supposed, implies one of the greatest health challenges of our time precisely because of the clinical picture that accompanies an elderly person. The increase in life expectancy, in combination with other public health problems such as those related to a sedentary life and diet, make it essential to find solutions for the care of the elderly.
With this objective, and within the framework of the 2030 agenda, the WHO launched the “Decade of Healthy Aging” initiative, which offers the opportunity to bring together governments, civil society, international organizations and professionals around ten years of concerted, catalytic and collaborative action to improve the lives and care of older people, their families and the communities in which they live.
In the document they literally establish the need to “Promote the development, production, availability and use of healthcare and digital technologies and innovations that increase access to quality health and social services” and, in this context, we can include the telemedicine and digital health.
Telemedicine for the care of the elderly?
After this informative “break” to find out the context in which digitization becomes a necessity, we can also tell you in geriatrics that the field of telematic medicine has been the subject of study for more years than one might think in A beginning.
Without going any further, Low JA et al. published a prospective study a few years ago titled “The Nuts and Bolts of Utilizing Telemedicine in Nursing Homes – The GeriCare@North Experience” in which they examined the demographics and clinical profile of teleconsultations performed over 6 1/2 years among a geriatrics department. and nursing home users in Singapore.
If we take into account that until a few years ago, teleconsultations were carried out by telephone, it is easy to understand that the next step necessarily had to be the video call. This modality was explored this February by May S et al. who introduced the video consultation system in nursing homes in rural Germany.
But there is not only the possibility of remote consultations. There are numerous articles that support the use of telemedicine and telemonitoring tools in the elderly. For example, Seibert K et al. launched the GER-e-TEC™ Project to offer digital health tools and solutions to their elderly patients and reduce their co-morbidities.
TRAK, telerehabilitation in residences
Where in this equation does TRAK fit? In the implementation of teleguided therapeutic exercise programs and in the digital monitoring of patients and their activity.
We have extensive experience in working with residences that place us as a benchmark in the digitization of residences:
Telerehabilitation is a very useful and necessary resource to address different pathological conditions currently related to aging. Now, with our platform you can create monitored and preventative therapeutic exercise programs for your elderly patients. In this context, we work with CaixaBank Senior to ensure healthy aging for its users.
We are also currently collaborating with the Adinberri Foundation in a project to prevent frailty syndrome from appearing in autonomous older adults and to offer a hybrid rehabilitation system for those who have a degree of disability.
We are a company aware of the needs of this patient profile and therefore we intend to promote active aging with physical exercise programs and work to improve their quality of life.