A new report from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and information technology and networking brand Cisco says technology can help address “systemic deficiencies” in the aged care sector.
Titled Transforming aged care – towards a future in which digitisation drives respect and connection, the report finds that technology can be used to streamline and automate non-core duties, improving quality of care by allowing carers to spend less time on these tasks; the authors say that this will help aged care homes meet the Royal Commission’s requirement of 200 care minutes per resident per day while improving staff satisfaction.
According to Professor Vishaal Kishore (pictured), Executive Chair of the RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab, technology needs to be central to creating a respectful and quality-driven aged care system and allows providers to “treat the elderly with respect”.
“The report argues that digital transformation is critical to creating an aged care system that can be scaled to meet the future needs and provide the respect and quality that is the motivating force of carers, the aim of providers, and the right of every user of the system,” he said.
“A large-scale system re-orientation is needed with technology and digitisation at the core of the story. There is the potential for technologies in aged care that are far deeper and more transformative than might be imagined. Technology interventions must be systemic, they must be deep, and they must be human-centred.”
Six aged care technology companies earlier this year formed a consortium to integrate their systems.
