Telecare

The increase in life expectancy, the disappearance of inter-generational co-habitation, and the saturation and cost of retirement homes make secure home care one of society’s major priorities. This security process no longer only concerns the elderly but also active senior citizens, who continue to be mobile on a day-to-day basis. Telecare therefore offers a real alternative, as long as it evolves and broadens its range of services, so that it is not limited to just receiving and managing telephone calls or wearable alarms. Telecare must take into account multimedia means of communication and verification. It must allow for the anticipation of risks and difficulties of subscribers and adapt to their mobility. It must take into account the intrinsic needs of complementary personal services and the medical dimension that telemedicine is beginning to cover. The choice of tools required for this change poses a major challenge. It is essential for users to be able to interact securely with any type of system or device, including video or geolocation. Flexibility of use and ergonomics must now, as in the neighboring world of remote monitoring, be based upon innovative technology that reduces the repetitive tasks of operators, thanks to the integration of AI. Tool choice must also be based on flexibility and security of use in the context of remote work, part-time work or the remote takeover of local management. Strong interaction with partners, whether they are mobile responders, technicians, medical staff, families, or emergency services, is essential. It must be possible to rely on real-time interoperability with third-party systems.