The list of things drones are being used for has been growing substantially lately. Might "caring for the elderly” soon be added to the list?
A roboticist from the University of Illinois is looking into the possibility of drones being care aids for the elderly. Specifically, she looking into the development of small drones designed to be able to perform basic chores for elderly individuals living at home. She has been given a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant for her research.
The roboticist believes drones will be one of the waves of the future when it comes to elder care. Specifically, she is of the opinion that, over the next couple of decades, drones will become relatively commonplace in elder care.
In addition to drone care aids, there are also many other robotic technologies that could be entering into the elder care realm in the not-so-distant future. This underscores that elder care may be entering a pretty big transitional phase. Elder care in a couple decades might look quite a bit different from how it looks today.
One thing individuals who are approaching their elderly years should not let the possibility that elder care could be changing quite a bit over the next several years discourage them from is planning in advance for how to pay for their future elder care needs. While elder care may be going through changes, one thing that is likely to not change in the foreseeable future is that elder care can have significant expenses attached to it. Not doing advanced long-term care planning could make it much more difficult for a person to be able to handle their future elder care costs in a way consistent with their long-term financial goals. Also, the long-term care planning a person sets up can be adjusted down the line if changes arise that would affect the ability of the care cost planning strategies they currently have in place to still meet their goals. Skilled estate planning attorneys can be a very helpful source of guidance when it comes to long-term care planning.
Source: The New York Times, "As Aging Population Grows, So Do Robotic Health Aides," John Markoff, Dec. 4, 2015