Keynote Speech II

Over the past century, in most developed and rapidly developing countries, there has been a continual increase in life expectancy primarily due to improvements in public health, nutrition and medicine. However, this is now coupled with aging population demographics and falling birth rates, which when combined, are expected to significantly burden the socio-economic well-being of many of these countries. In fact, never before in human history have we been confronted with such a large aging population, nor have we developed solid, cost-effective solutions for the healthcare and social needs and well-being of the elderly. In this presentation, we will describe an ongoing project in Ubiquitous (U)-Healthcare - a smart medical home. In our work, we are using advances in information technology, wireless communication, web-based technologies and autonomics, to develop new, smart and cost-effective solutions for the health wellness of the elderly. Such a solution would enable elderly to lead independent lifestyles in their own homes while being continuously monitored for the early detection of symptoms, so diseases can be treated earlier than in later stages as is currently done; to promote health wellness; as well as to treat chronic illnesses. In this presentation, through a few examples, we will discuss our ongoing work and the challenges we have uncovered, plus some of the research issues we are pursuing. In particular, we will focus on the critical role of information technology (IT) in developing innovative, low-cost and high impacting solutions to the pending elderly demographic crisis. Several examples will be described to highlight IT for U-Health.