The futures of equitable and personalised healthcare

NEAR TERM – 2030
Retail health for better access & affordability

Today, some people live in areas close to quality healthcare. In other places, access to transportation—public or personal—is necessary to receive care. For example, in rural areas, it takes nearly 26 minutes on average to drive to a hospital while those in urban areas can reach a hospital in an average of 16.5 minutes. Travelling for care becomes increasingly difficult for those with limited mobility, who care for small children, or those concerned about the cost of travel.

How might you leverage partnerships to create a more accessible and inclusive healthcare system?

In 2030, the healthcare ecosystem will promote strong partnerships to scale retail health solutions more easily. Our team imagines partnerships with local grocers, dollar stores, and even public transit areas like bus stations will turn these places into hubs for everyday health. This could include health provider consultations, telehealth access points for those without internet connected devices, and biometric or routine health screenings. Healthcare will not be exclusively found in hospitals and clinics but imbedded into the places that people visit as part of their regular routines.

Improve experience of care: With more people able to easily access care and be treated within their own communities, trust in the healthcare system may grow over time.

DISRUPTIVE – 2050
Living healthy lives in harmony with technology

With the creation of new medical technology, even more health data is likely to be generated. But, in a recent survey by the American Medical Association, nearly 75% of patients today expressed concern. In the future, trusting not only the technology used to treat patients, but its use of people’s data is imperative for improved health outcomes.

How might you build future healthcare technology that users can trust is safe and secure?

In the future, robotic caregivers and assistants will support healthier lives. To instill trust, people will more easily be able to grant, deny, or rescind access to their health data so they always know who—and what robots—have access. Educational programs will teach students from an early age how to interact with and design this technology. This allows the robotics to be created by the communities they serve locally. They may even include features like adjustable voices, faces, and language to better reflect the communities they serve.

Improve population health: Affordable robotics deployed at the community level will increase health outcomes for those that lack ability to reach centralised healthcare.

HOLISTIC – 2070
A connected health city

Healthcare can be a personal—and sometimes isolating—pursuit. This can be compounded by healthcare professionals that are knowingly or unknowingly discriminatory or unfamiliar with your community and life experiences. In fact, in a recent survey of 714 practicing U.S. physicians surveyed nationwide, only 40.7% were very confident about their ability to provide equal quality care to patients with a disability.

How might you strengthen community networks to improve collective health and wellbeing?

In 2070, society will better value the connection between humans, other living things, and the environment. Policy makers, community organisers, and others will view access to clean air, water, and nutritious food as a basic human right. In this future, places like health centres will provide complimentary healthcare services, offer gathering opportunities, spaces to share art, and other collective needs that address people’s holistic experience with health. This knowledge sharing creates a sense of community as well as improved education and health outcomes.

Improve the experience of care: The definition of healthcare has the potential to broaden and become integrated our policies, our communities, and our way of life. By building healthy and diverse communities, the experience of care is less isolating and more empowering.