Title: Network technologies and messaging for the community-based care of the elderly

Authors: Timothy Bolt, Sadahiko Kano

Addresses: Graduate School of Global Information and Telecommunications Studies, Waseda University, 1-3-10 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0051, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan. ' Graduate School of Global Information and Telecommunications Studies, Waseda University, 1-3-10 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0051, Japan

Abstract: This paper examines the use of communication networks and messaging in the community-based care of the elderly over the next decade. This is based on a review of political, economic and social institutional pressures as well as technological trends. These are drawn primarily from studies in the UK and Japan. In examining the support of community-based care of the elderly through network technologies, the two key applications identified are messaging for the coordination of care services and messaging for the transfer of remote monitoring data from sensor systems in the homecare environment. An assessment of the platforms expected to emerge to support these over the next decade is offered. We find the approach of messaging between separate localised systems sharing data through standardised XML schemas with common vocabularies, as proposed by the dominant international standardisation organisations, to be convincing.

Keywords: community-based care; healthcare technology; elderly; e-government; integrated care; information quality; long-term care; sensor networks; standardisation; electronic government; messaging; networking; UK; Japan; United Kingdom; remote monitoring; care coordination; home care; XML.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2007.013159

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2007 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.175 - 195

Published online: 11 Apr 2007 *

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