Ageing@home: A secure 5G welfare technology solution for elderlies

Abstract

The world population is ageing at a fast pace and to enable elderly to age at home can become a viable solution both economically and socially speaking, leading also to the overall improvement of the elderly’s well-being and comfort. There are currently a few AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) systems which although operational are not yet optimal in terms of efficiency and security. This paper proposes a welfare technology solution called Ageing@home which aims at enabling newly hospitalized elderlies to come home earlier by making use of a dedicated 5G network slice for health care system. Such an isolated logical network will provide adequate security, privacy and reliability for the selected welfare technologies and services deployed at the elderly home. The proposed solution allows the selection and customization of needed welfare technologies and services and promotes the re-allocation and re-use of equipment. Validation methods and a business plan have been presented as well as a thorough description of a proof-of-concept implementation.