Ambient Assisted Living - an Integral Part of Future Smart Cities

Abstract

Smart Cities offer numerous potentials to increase the quality of life among the population and to shape social coexistence in a meaningful way. In the area of urban health care, smart technologies are not yet widely used. In particular, the nursing care sector offers the opportunity to use such technologies, since it is very difficult to meet the needs that can be identified there in the long term with the current care structures. In Germany — as in many Western countries — ageing of the population has been observed for many years, which is accompanied by an increase in the number of people in need of long-term care. In Germany, it is the responsibility of the welfare state to ensure that nursing care is provided in line with demand and the financing of nursing care is carried out, in part, by the state nursing care insurance scheme and the municipalities. Against this background, solutions are needed that are conducive to cost-effective and needs-based care for the elderly. In this paper, the possible cost savings that could result from large-scale implementation of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) for the care of elderly people in their homes are outlined.