Singapore is facing a rising greying population, with baby boomers entering their golden years. (Tham, 2014) The term baby boomers indicates people who are born between 1947 and 1964. (MCYS, Jan 2009) As the country progresses toward a technologically advanced era, a group of these baby boomers are unintentionally left behind - they are the group of independent living elderly who are not technologically connected. This is also the focal point of this paper, which discusses the divide between independent living elderly who receives home based healthcare and those who do not due to the insufficient technological infrastructure in their homes.
Home-based healthcare is when medical assistance is provided for at the comfort of the homes of the elderly. In the present hi-tech society, home-based healthcare includes the use of highly intelligent devices, however majority of these independent living elderly do not have any form of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support in their homes. With this incapacity, it deprives them from enjoying the full benefits of home-based healthcare. In contrast to those who have ICT support in their homes, these group of elderly are definitely losing out. Pinpointing the cause for the lack in ICT support, the most apparent is that they are technology ignorant. As these elderly are technology ignorant, they would not have had any knowledge about ICT. It is also these group of elderly who falls on the other end of the spectrum. As we look at how technology has improved and benefited our daily lives, we have to also consider the technology divide existing among our elderly population. With this divide, these group of elderly are on the disadvantageous side and can be easily neglected by the country.
In Singapore's present healthcare scene, she have gone so far and established many milestones and breakthroughs in the medical field. We are currently in the era where sophisticated and state-of-art equipment or machinery are working hand in hand with doctors and professionals to treat and provide basic healthcare services for people. Looking at home-based healthcare services, some of these home-based medical devices for the elderly are specially designed to have a tracking or monitoring system so that movements can be instantaneously detected and then recorded. This is helpful as user can be notified with the situation in an independent-living elderly home. e-Guardian is one such example which uses this system. The degree of efficiency and convenience these intelligent devices brought about is commendable. It is obvious that without ICT support, elderly are unable to enjoy these benefits.
In Singapore's present healthcare scene, she have gone so far and established many milestones and breakthroughs in the medical field. We are currently in the era where sophisticated and state-of-art equipment or machinery are working hand in hand with doctors and professionals to treat and provide basic healthcare services for people. Looking at home-based healthcare services, some of these home-based medical devices for the elderly are specially designed to have a tracking or monitoring system so that movements can be instantaneously detected and then recorded. This is helpful as user can be notified with the situation in an independent-living elderly home. e-Guardian is one such example which uses this system. The degree of efficiency and convenience these intelligent devices brought about is commendable. It is obvious that without ICT support, elderly are unable to enjoy these benefits.
A group of independent-living elderly are deprived of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support due to their ignorance in technology, Ministry of Health can implement a "limited free wifi zone" in the building where these elderly reside to allow connectivity for approved medical devices so as to help these elderly be connected and to enjoy the full benefits of home-based healthcare.
Limited free wifi zone
Ministry of Health (MOH) can help these elderly "be connected" by implementing a free wifi zone in their residential building. This proposed solution however would be exploited as anyone can connect to it. In order to prevent this, the free wifi would be limited only to those who qualifies for it. This means that only qualified and approved households and medical devices by the MOH can be connected via the "limited free wifi zone". Elderly who require the use of ICT support intelligent medical devices and are technology ignorant are those who qualifies for this scheme. The medical devices that they use will also have to be endorsed and authorized by MOH before it can be use through the "wifi zone". Helping these elderly stay connected, family members can also tap on the intellectual and efficient system of the medical devices created for home-based healthcare. MOH will have to work together with communications service provider, namely Singtel or Starhub to provide the connection in these residential building. The concept of having "limited free wifi zone" is to serve as a primary tool to help these group of unplugged elderly "be connected" as technology is made available to them instead of doing it themselves.
The digital divide in Singapore is real with a group of people who are still not connected. The digital gap between elderly who can afford home-based healthcare and those who cannot is an existing issue and the government play a crucial role in the efforts to bridge this gap. As technology advances, Singapore is expected to progress along as well. This will put our baby boomers or late bloomers at an disadvantage for their lack of knowledge with Information Technology (IT). It is thus essential we do something to help these group of baby boomers.
References
Health Exchange, 2013 January 01, Keeping a Watch on Seniors Living Alone, Retrieved October 3, 2014 from http://www.healthxchange.com.sg/News/Pages/keeping-watch-seniors-living.aspx
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/Infocomm-Usage-Households-and-Individuals
SG Press Centre, 2009 January 09, Singapore's Baby Boomers Wish To Age Meaningfully And Stay Active In Their Golden Years, Retrieved Date, October 6, 2014
The Straits Times, 2014 March 13, Bridging the digital divide, Retrieved October 4, 2014 from http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/bridging-the-digital-divide-20140317
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