According to Parks Associates, about 80 percent of caregivers in U.S. broadband households spend more than an hour a day performing their care-giving tasks. And in recent research Parks did with AARP, indicators show that 117 million Americans will need care-giving assistance by 2020, either as care recipients or family caregivers.
The demand for connected health solutions over broadband networks seems clear, but how the market will get there seamlessly is less so.
“The connected health market represents several interesting use cases that cross over to the smart home industry,” Harry Wang, senior research director at Parks Associates, says. “Consumers spend less than 1 percent of their time interacting with the healthcare system. Home, on the other hand, is where consumers spend most time with their family, care for themselves and others, and enjoy life — food, drink, exercise, sleep — experiences that also impact their health and wellbeing.”
Extending access to healthcare information and offering caregivers new communications options is a growing challenge. An example of one company directly focused on the expanding needs of aging Americans is Independa, which offers solutions to allow caregivers options for staying in touch and help tracking healthcare needs, including doctor visits and medication reminders.
“As we move from patient-centric to person-centric, from the institution to the residence, and in general from volume-based to value based healthcare, the future of healthcare is happening in the consumer’s home,” Kian Saneii, CEO at Independa, notes. “The winning solutions in this area are all about integration, consumerization and the seamless extension of traditional healthcare institutions into the person’s residence.”
Wang will discuss innovations that will increase consumer interest with connected health devices during three panel sessions at the Connections conference later this month in San Francisco. An agenda for the event is available here.