Over the last decade, aging has become a global challenge. And Taiwan is no stranger to this issue. With the country’s high life expectancy and low birth rate, it has become one of the fastest-aging societies in the world.  

The National Development Council of Taiwan has predicted that by 2025, the country will become a super-aged society with 20.8% of the population being 65 years old or older. According to the United Nations, a country is considered an “aging society” if the proportion of people aged 65 years or older surpasses 7%, an “aged society” if it is 14% or higher, and a “super-aged society” if it exceeds 20%.  

This demographic shift will have profound effects on Taiwan’s healthcare system due to increased demand and costs related to senior care. Moreover, statistics from Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare show that Taiwanese people on average will spend around eight years before the end of their lives in a state of disability, immobility, or chronic illness.    

ASUS Smart Healthcare solutions to the rescue… 

To prepare for a super-aged society, Taiwan is building a comprehensive ecosystem that aims to strengthen the readiness and resilience of its healthcare industry. The goal is to elevate the quality and efficiency of senior care and work towards creating long-term healthcare solutions that can help ease the challenges of an aged society.  

The strategy has two components, the first is to formulate policies on preventative healthcare and launch community-based health activities, such as light exercise events and fitness competitions. The second component involves the government working in cooperation with hospitals and enterprises to develop Taiwan’s capability in supporting an aging population.    

At ASUS, we are committed to providing innovative smart healthcare products and services that can empower individuals and empower healthcare professionals and institutions. Over the years, ASUS has created a range of innovative health solutions, including wearable health trackers, medical information platforms, and AI medical devices to assist medical diagnosis and improve the operational efficiency and overall quality of Taiwan’s healthcare providers.  

In line with Taiwan’s commitment to addressing the challenges of a super-aged society, ASUS has been working in close cooperation with Gandau Hospital in Taipei to improve the quality of medical care for senior citizens. A key development in this area has been the installation at Gandau Hospital of the ASUS Intelligent, Innovative, and Individual Healthy Aging & Rejuvenation Platform (iHARP).  

Co-developed with Gandau Hospital and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, the iHARP platform helps improve hospital efficiency and assists in managing community health by integrating health data collected from hospitals, community centers, and personal healthcare devices. iHARP uses AI to monitor the well-being of patients, especially those outside of the hospital, by collecting and analyzing data from electronic medical records, daily vital signs, and activity patterns from wearable health trackers. The platform is also able to proactively identify potential health problems to ensure symptoms are treated in a timely manner.  

Additionally, iHARP offers a medical transcription service that allows healthcare professionals to dictate patient notes and have them transcribed directly from natural language conversations with patients. This greatly reduces the administrative workload of healthcare professionals and enables them to better focus on patient consultations.  

In a further innovation, the iHARP platform also features an AI Speech Recognition System that can identify the early stages of cognitive decline by analyzing subtle differences in an individual’s speech patterns. The system is currently being tested at Gandaulogy Academy and is expected to help provide diagnostic references for early disease prevention.  

But effective healthcare management requires much more than this, that’s why ASUS also takes the emotional needs of senior citizens into consideration. In particular, fulfilling their need for companionship is especially important. To assist long-term care facilities and caregivers in this area, ASUS has created an AI-enabled intelligent robot called Zenbo Junior.  

Equipped with 24 dynamic facial expressions and a built-in AI system for voice and facial recognition, Zenbo Junior can play the role of a companion through friendly human-robot interactions. Additionally, the robot can verbally provide health-related information as well as help their human companion set up online appointments and connect to healthcare professionals when needed.  

The challenges of an aging society are many, but with innovative solutions, such as those from ASUS, these problems are not insurmountable. Through cross-industry collaboration and continuous development in smart healthcare applications, ASUS hopes to do its part in supporting the digital transformation of healthcare and improve the long-term care services for senior people in Taiwan and around the world.