Silver economy and sustainability: the role of 50+ people as consumers

As the massive baby boomer generations approach retirement age and life expectancy rises, populations in Europe and North America are ageing. In fact, the distinguishing pattern of population growth this century will be ageing. The proportion of older people is growing, which is the most evident sign of this trend. The proportion and relative growth of older people is significantly higher in nations with younger populations.

Incorporating new corporate strategies that reflect a better understanding of older people’s new roles and behaviours may also drive active aging, in addition to leveraging technology and scientific advancements. Unsurprisingly, consumers in the silver age bracket pay more than any other age group on healthcare. The need for healthcare businesses in a broader sense, from tech firms providing robotics to assist seniors with everyday duties, such as hearing aids and conventional pharmaceutical firms, should thus continue to increase in the coming decades.

“We wanted to find a solution to the labyrinth of getting older and living with quality of life. There is hardly any possibility of receiving quality care, with tools for caregivers or healthcare professionals to provide health and care for the person in their own home,” explains Ángel Díez, CEO and co-founder of the company Ubikare. Ubikare has developed software that performs a comprehensive geriatric diagnosis and generates individualised health, care, intervention and monitoring plans based on the clinical data of each user.

The company has three plans: ‘Ubikare Básico’ – medical diagnosis, care plan, guidance and management of available aids; ‘Ubikare Cuidados’ – search and selection of qualified caregivers, training and monitoring of the same and night guard service; and ‘Ubikare Salud’ – with a nurse manager who attends to the needs of the user and manages the health professionals who must come to the home. “Taking into account the needs of each family, a personalised offer is presented”, it specifies.

Ubikare: an innovative tech solution for the healthcare sector of the elderly: https://ubikare.perujo.net

Díez believes that traditional care companies are not competitors, but complementary businesses. “We want them to use our software to reach as many homes as possible with diagnostic tools and the design of care plans,” he says. In addition, it has signed agreements with the Centre for Biomedic Research (CIBER) of the Health Institute Carlos III and with the Spanish Society of Anesthesiology and Spanish Society of Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation (SEDAR), which will use its software to analyse clinical data to improve decision-making, both in hospitals and in clinical studies, or for the management of patients with COVID-19 or other pathologies. It also hopes to grow with mutual and insurance companies, which could offer its home care services linked to health, dependency, life or death policies.