84% of elderly people living in Singapore want digital options to access health services from home, according to a survey conducted by Accenture and published at the end of May 2017.
Results of this study have to be taken seriously by the industry players because two in every five of Singapore residents are expected to be age 55 and older by 2030.
Singapore: 73% of elderly people are ready to use a health-monitoring device
« In a country that has one of the world’s most highly-connected populations, tech-savvy seniors are a natural extension of the ubiquity of connected devices and the high overall rates of technology adoption in Singapore, » said Kaveh Safavi, senior managing director of Accenture’s health practice.
Seniors have an increasingly positive image of e-health
According to the survey, elderly people in Singapore are increasingly inclined to adopt new technologies in the field of health.
- In 2016, 73% said they would be willing to wear a health-monitoring device to monitor their vital signs, such as their blood pressure and heart rate, against 43% in 2014.
- About four in every five seniors believe that wearable health devices offer health benefits, like understanding their conditions (cited by 87% of respondents), engagement in one’s own health (80%), and aids overall quality of care (77%).
- 77% of elderly people in the city-State prefer to use self-care technology to track their health. They were more likely to use digital tools to track their weight (73% in 2016 versus 59% in 2014), monitor dietary intake (61% versus 51%), manage their cholesterol (59% vs 45%) and track their physical activity (52% versus 43%).
Online consultations are more popular with seniors than the general population
Telemedicine is also gradually attracting the elderly.
- 28% of elderly people living in Singapore would prefer remote consultations if this service would allow them to see more often their doctor. They estimate that it would not only reduce costs for patients (reason cited by 59% of respondents) and would be more beneficial in terms of accommodation of both patient (55%) and physician (41% ) schedules.
- In addition, four in every five of seniors (82%) said they were more likely to choose a provider who offers an online appointment service, compared to 70% of the entire population. And 83% of those aged 55 and over say they were more willing to choose a provider who offers email or text messages reminders for preventive or follow-up care, compared to 67% of the general population.