Healthy at Home (H@H) aims to create and test a sensor-driven care ecosystem that enhances ageing people’s experience in their homes, however home* is defined for them, by optimising the health care they receive there, resulting in measurable benefits for them and the community that supports them.

Sensors, software, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will deliver useful data and actionable alerts to direct care needed. Virtual telehealth and ‘at home’ care models will optimise, where possible, care in the home for the ageing person instead of defaulting to hospital care.

The key differentiator of this project is the integration of the sensor technology and care models with data and IT systems in Local Health Districts, initially in the SESLHD and progressing to the Gosford LHD. H@H primary focus is to test and validate an integrated ecosystem, as opposed to testing a particular device or technology (as these are constantly evolving), although the sensing technology being used in H@H is world leading.

Helping more of the ageing population to stay at home and out of hospital involves both the planning system (which supplies housing for the population and regulates property) and the health system (which supports the health and wellbeing of the population as they age in place).

H@H will bring together government, both State and Federal, leading industry participants and NSW universities. it was co-created with the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN). The NSSN is a not-for-profit, semi-government organisation with a remit from the Office of the Chief Scientist and with nine NSW university members.

Professor Paul Egglestone and Professor Nick Goodwin (UON) are leading H@H using a human-centred co-design approach and Integrative Care models.

The care models that already integrated at SESLHD were created by Associate Professor Peter Gonski, who is a geriatrician with 40 years experience and the Director of Aged Care at NSW Health. Also integrated at SESLHD is the telehealth system developed by Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell who is Head of the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering and Co-Director of the Tyree Foundation Institute of Health Engineering at UNSW. Professor Jason Prior has a particular expertise in the intersectional work between the planning system and the health system and leads the Health Urban Environments Platform within the Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE). Industry Professor Ian Oppermann is the NSW Government Chief Data Scientist and Industry Professor at UTS. Professor Enrico Coiera is Director, Centre for Health Informatics, Macquarie University, and Director, Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare.

Current Industry partners include

• Tunstall Health
• Intelicare
• My Medic Watch
• Hammond Care
• Meals on Wheels
• Vitaliscare
• United for Care
• Ericom and DigitalX

* ‘home’ could be a private residence, an independent living facility, an assisted living environment, a nursing home aged care facility (either low, medium or high care). Anything other than a clinical grade hospital

H@H already has:

• A group of willing university, industry and government co-creators in SESLHD and Gosford LHD
• Readily available mature sensor technology and new innovative sensor tech in development.
• Software, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) that can deliver us useful data and actionable alerts
• An existing and robust aged care and hospital system supported by the State and Federal Government.
• New exemplar models of care like Peter Gonski’s Geriatric Flying Squadron and other models
• Unique access to the data storage system at Service NSW.

H@H will also:

• Address cyber security and privacy concerns around the use of lifestyle and bioinformation data
• Address sovereign risk concerns
• address concerns around the use of AI/ML
• Provide economic modelling that proves that the technology and ecosystem is beneficial to: - the ageing person, their carers and the community that supports them - state and federal governments
• take account of the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (UARC) reports into profitability in the aged care sector
• Take account of the fact that different types of alerts can be raised eg. diagnostic, emergency, preventative
• Take account of the need to integrate in different LHD IT systems eg. Cerner or EPIC
• Take guidance on where best to store the data eg data pool at NSW Health, honeycomb data storage unit at Service NSW, Federal government My Health Records

For more information please contact

Catherine Oates Smith, MedTech Theme Leader, NSSN.

P: +61 421 563 197

Catherine.oatessmith@nssn.org.au

Healthy at Home partners and leaders include: