Throughout the world and throughout history, the young have always outnumbered the elderly. Over the next 40 years, this will change, the population over 60 will grow by 1 billion to a total of 2 billion. For the first time, in human history, there will be more people over 60 than under 15. 1 in every 5 people will be elderly. In 1950, there were 12 working people for every elderly person. Today, there are 9 and in 2050 there are 4. More money out and less money in.

It will have a big impact on economic growth, savings, debt, investment, consumption, labor market, pensions, taxation. Social implications such as family compositions, living arrangements, housing demand, migration trends and health care are also affected. This includes political impact such as voting patterns and political representation.

However, the elderly bring – inspiration, work ethic, leadership, wisdom, values, culture, tradition, legacy, But with age, comes health concerns, vulnerability, and uncertainty. But with less money, how can countries afford to look after the elderly? And how we will afford to look after our own health, our education, afford to spend on technology, arts, and science? Afford to spend on our children and their futures?

We could consider these steps:

1. Integrating aging into all aspects of development
2. Involving the elderly more in major policy decisions
3. Policy reforms in existing pension systems
4. Making healthcare affordable to all.

And we can do this, not just because we care for them because we also care for those to come.

Check out upcoming articles how IoT can play a part in making healthcare affordable to all. But it’s also good to hear your thoughts regarding this.

What’s so special with IOT in Healthcare?

Global IoT in Healthcare market is expected to grow from US$ 20.15 billion in 2015 to US$ 135.87 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 21.2% between 2015 and 2025 as reported by Insight Partners.

Leading the adopter of IoT in Healthcare is North America, followed by Europe and thirdly by APAC region that is growing at a faster rate.

In fact, healthcare is always a big part of our lives as we moved from infanthood to old age hood. There are four phases of our lives which have different health considerations:

1. Baby
2. Teenage
3. Working adult
4. Senior citizen

The first two phases of health conditions probably are the responsibility of their parents who might want to monitor their children health. When they are working adults, the responsibility lies on themselves. That’s why we see most consumer fitness wearable devices are meant for them. With the pressure of work, they need a way to monitor their own health and quality of life. But as people aged, the responsibility will revert back to the concerned children who wanted a way to monitor their aged parent’s safety and health due to their busy schedule and live in separate homes.

Healthcare expenditures are under increasing pressure, particularly in developed markets, because of increasing demands from an aging population, the growing incidence of chronic diseases, notably governments needing to lower their overall expenditure. Check out Malaysia’s concerns for 2017 healthcare budget and why we can no longer afford any further cut.

We are seeing healthcare moving away from critical centers of care (e.g., hospitals) to home care and other care environments, which not only lowers costs but also improve patient quality of life and their ability to remain independent.

That’s why technology like Internet of Things (IoT) is critically and urgently required to solve the emerging healthcare challenges.