Your parents might have had Buck Rogers to look to for an idea of what the future would hold, while you may have seen teleportation and tricorders from Star Trek as things that could make their way into our lives eventually. It may seem weird, but there are more than a few gadgets making their way into assisted living facilities that will provide a measure of safety and/or comfort that just a few years ago would belong in science fiction.
Motion sensors are most commonly associated with security systems and burglar alarms. Some residents at technology-focused homes now have sensors attached to areas of the bathroom or the refrigerator. Unlike Big Brother, these allow staff who make the rounds every hour or two to be notified if a resident is spending an abnormally long time in one place. For example, a bathroom stay of 30 or more minutes might trigger a bell in the staff room so that an attendant can check on a resident even if rounds don’t begin for another hour.
These things may seem like a scene out of a movie, or at the very least, the Jetsons or other cartoons. The fact is, they are out there and not just in experimental situations. However, the adoption rate has been somewhat lower in America due to a variety of factors including private insurance restrictions and an aversion to technology by some members of the older generations. To find successful implementations, we need to look overseas.
The UK and Japan are leading the way
It’s interesting to note that two of the countries with the most rapid innovation in senior care and telecare possibilities are in the United Kingdom and Japan. The UK is doing so because it’s nationalized health care system rewards cost savings that don’t come at the expense of positive patient outcomes, while Japan already has one of the highest proportions of elderly citizens compared to the population as a whole.
That’s why in England you see the National Health Service putting funding into disease-specific monitoring solutions, a technology that is the perfect fit for assisted living facilities. There, conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes can have various vital signs monitored in a central location, even by staff who operate like alarm system monitoring technicians here in the states. If levels seem out of the ordinary, the staff and the local health care providers are notified of the change, often without the resident even having to lift a finger.
We will likely see more of this because of the American Recovery and Re-investment Act putting billions of dollars into reforming our healthcare information technology systems. This will allow records to be seamlessly integrated so that doctors’ notes on a condition will appear in a pharmacy, allowing the person who dispenses drugs to note potential interactions with medications an elderly person has forgot.
The ease of transmitting records and information, combined with restrictive privacy rules in the U.S., would also allow seniors to know that they don’t have to wait for an attendant to notice that something is wrong. The monitoring programs in place serve as early warning systems for adverse developments. But they can also act as reminders, notifying a diabetic that they need another insulin injection or that a resident with heart disease may need an additional beta blocker.
GPS Technology can be very helpful
One of the other big developments is the use of GPS technology. While a resident can be helped by motion sensors or other devices within an assisted living facility, going for a walk or a short trip can be problematic. Seniors who are at risk for developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease especially might not be aware where they end up, leading to problems for staff or family trying to ascertain their whereabouts.
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