mHealth as a Key Component of a New Model of Primary Care for Older Adults

With population aging, an increase in total life expectancy at birth (TLE) should ideally be accompanied by an equal increase in health span (HS), or by a trend in increasing HS/TLE ratio. Hong Kong has one of the longest life expectancies in the world; however, there is a trend of declining HS/TLE ratio, such that the absolute number of people with dependencies is increasing. To address this challenge, the World Health Organization proposed the model of integrated care for older people (ICOPE) that combines both health and social elements in community care, using the measurement of intrinsic capacity (IC) as a metric for monitoring the performance in different countries. The use of technology is essential in achieving a wide coverage of the population in assessing IC, followed by an individually tailored plan of action. This model can be adapted to different health and social care systems in different countries. Hong Kong has an extensive network of community centers, where the basic assessment may be based, followed by further assessments and personalized activities, and referral to medical professionals may only be needed in the presence of disease. Conversely, the medical sector may refer patients to the community for activities designed to optimize the various domains of IC. Such a model of care has the potential to address manpower shortage and mitigate inequalities in healthy aging, as well as enable the monitoring of physiological systems in community-dwelling adults using digital biomarkers as a metric of IC.