According to new research, in-home care technology can alleviate pressure on national healthcare. The research was conducted by Arqiva and YouGov.

64 percent of people have voiced concern over the level of GP care available in older age. This new research reveals that over 70 percent of British adults believe that in-home care technology to monitor health could take pressure both off the patients and NHS as well as enable local GPs to prioritise patient treatment.

It is being projected that in light of UK’s ageing population, GP surgeries are expected to increase. DIY healthcare could take some pressure off as indicated by the findings of this study. 91 percent of respondents said that they would be prepared to monitor basic vitals such as blood pressure, heart rate and weight at home. This could be done quite easily via Internet of Things (IoT) enabled devices. The self-management of these basic checks could help increase appointment availability and the time GPs could spend with patients who had more complex health issues.

The findings also showed that in-home care technologies could also decrease some of the common worries associated with elderly relatives. 72 percent of the respondents said that the presence of in-home care technologies in their older relatives’ home would give them greater peace of mind and would allow those relatives to live independently for a longer period of time.

According to Wendy McMillan, Managing Director of Smart Metering and M2M at Arqiva,  "All too often when we talk about the Internet of Things we focus on grand visions of tomorrow and overlook the more immediate impact such technologies could have on our lives today. Particularly when the connected-devices and IoT network to bring this all to life, is available now. Concerns over access to quality healthcare are only going to grow in the coming years and the great thing about in-home care solutions, afforded by IoT, is their potential impact not just on individual patients and the quality of care they receive, but on the lives of their family members and the future of the country's healthcare system as a whole."

Source: Medical News Today

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons 

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