An Australian company has developed a blockchain-powered system which it says can help solve the biggest problems of the senior care sector that the traditional processes and systems have failed to resolve. With the influx of Blockchain technology across the domains from healthcare to manufacturing to shipping, old age care is still an unexplored field with a potential to systematize the entire ecosystem.
A blockchain or distributed ledger is a continuously growing list of encrypted transactions called blocks. A block may contain any type of data such as unique digital identifiers of physical products. “Blockchain technology is a system that truly empowers ordinary people. It takes away the power of decision-making and planning from a central authority or a group of bodies,” said Sunny Kapoor, CEO, GladAge, a decentralized senior care ecosystem powered by Blockchain. “This powers a decentralized senior care system which is creating a senior citizen-friendly atmosphere with all the necessary care at their service,” said Kapoor.
The power, according to Kapoor, is then distributed amongst a group of people who are part of the blockchain. They get to validate information and become a part of the decision-making processes. Everything in a decentralized system is open-source yet immutable. Implementation of blockchain technology in the care sector will transfer power to seniors and their family members instead of authoritative or unskilled organizations.
According to a World Health Organization (WHO) study, elderly people may not be getting the integrated services they need. In the study of 11 high-income countries, up to 41 percent of older adults (age over 65 years) reported care coordination problems in the past two years.
For the elder care, this technology can solve these and several other deep-rooted problems. GladeAge is creating a senior citizen-friendly atmosphere with all the necessary care at their service, said Kapoor. The blockchain powered platform will provide personalized care, thoroughly vetted homes, elderly care equipment, and caretaker on demand for personal care services online. Standardisation made possible by blockchain can mitigate many inefficiencies that are the primary drivers of substandard and inadequate services in the current ecosystem, he said.
A smart contract between the user and vendor or service provider can be executed on a designated timeline. Building a token system on top of blockchain will further enable the sector to sustain transparency in financial and operational workflows; something critical to the fair functioning of senior care industry.
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