Reinventing health, ageing and aged care through smart homes and intelligent technologies

Transformation of industry through technology is a continual process. This has been accelerated since the advent of information and communication technology. Industries have been transformed or lost and new ones created. There are industries that are now totally dependent upon new information technologies. Healthcare has embraced new technologies for treatments, life-support, diagnostics and other clinical interventions. There is however little integration of information outside of hospital walls and very little technology or information management for care in home and community settings. That is about to change as governments recognise the potential of technology to manage otherwise unsustainable increases in healthcare demand. There is new strategy, policy and funding in many countries aimed at increasing disease prevention activities, better care coordination, disease management, greater adoption of assistive technologies and other innovations to support independent living and home care. This paper will report on the state of research in this field and specifically on developments in Australia where the Queensland Smart Home Initiative is the leading national research consortium