SMU Associate Professor of Information Systems (Practice) Tan Hwee Pink commented on the need to provide more home and daycare services for the elderly in Singapore, which the Government is encouraging to ease the rising need for hospital and nursing home beds. Associate Prof Tan said the next step is to find a way to have eldercare technology run seamlessly with other home automation systems, so as not to overload the user with too many systems. His goal in the meantime is "to ensure that technology does not replace, but triggers when needed, the human touch, as with a live-in maid, so the elderly can still enjoy their privacy (by living in their own home)."
[Nearly one in three people in Singapore will require some form of eldercare by 2030. There will be a need for more facilities and healthcare workers, but robotics and smart home technology could offer solutions too. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM]