ENHANCING ELDERLY'S QUALITY OF LIFE AT HOME THROUGH SMART TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

As the global demographic trend shifts towards a rapidly ageing population, ensuring that the needs of the elderly are adequately addressed can be a challenge. Measuring one’s quality of life can also be subjective. With the rise of a ‘silver tsunami’, most of the elderly prefer to continue living independently in their own homes. While there are a wide range of smart home technology commercially available in the market, they are largely catered towards the general population. In order to prepare for and empower a rapidly ageing population to live independently, comfortably and safely, it is necessary to seek innovative and integrated smart technologies which can be retrofitted in indoor spaces. This paper will thus focus on implementing the literature review on smart home technologies which can be seamlessly integrated within a public housing indoor environment, and analyse how they can meet the needs of the elderly through identifying relevant quality-of-life indicators.