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New Home Care Technology to Keep an Eye On

By Anonymous
There seems to be an obvious disconnect between the older generations and technology, as they were never brought up with it as a part of their everyday life. Technology plays a key role in most aspects of our life and has recently become a critical part of the Home Care world. This new technology can have incredible benefits for aging adults who are trying to live life in their own home. There are several new technological advancements that will ultimately help make elderly people’s lives better and safer and here are just a few that I thought offer the most benefits.

1.       CareInnovations Health Harmony: This technology system platform simplifies patient monitoring by enabling patients, care providers, and family caregivers to collaborate for better care in the home within normal daily routines. It connects patients, care givers and families through an easy-to-use interface where they can share health data, educational information and best practices customized to individual situations.

2.       Healthsense eNeighbor Dashboard: This innovative piece of technology provides daily sensor information to deliver instant insight into the health status of the patients.  This allows the patients to remain healthy and independent in their preferred care setting. It provides a complete picture of activity changes, improves caregivers productivity with a daily prioritized list and compliments existing care plans by capturing real-time observations.

3.       Lifely Safety Watch: This personal emergency response wearable helps keep older adults safe and connected. It looks like your everyday watch and this allows it to fit an independent lifestyle, while giving family members peace of mind. This is similar to Life Alert, as it includes a button for 24/7 emergency response, but it has the added benefit of missed medication reminders as well as a pedometer for step counting. Toward the end of this year, it will also include advanced fall-detection to help avoid having to push a button.

a.       Lifely also allows family members to monitor their parents or older family members from a far. Numerous family members have to deal with their parents or loved one’s living far away and it is not always easy to ensure they are safe. Sure, calling a few times a day adds peace of mind, but it doesn’t truly ensure safety. Lifely has come up with a solution. They offer six sensors that can be placed around the house, such as on pill boxes, the refrigerator, the bathroom door and key chains. Then you are able to log onto a website and monitor their activity. You are able to see how many times the refrigerator door is opened, when someone goes into the bathroom or heads out the door. The company can then alert by text, email or phone if something is out of the ordinary.


All of these incredibly beneficial technological advancements will not guarantee safety and certainly would not allow people in need of care to live on their own completely. However, if they are coupled with the correct personal in-home care, they could add not only peace of mind, but important safety features to ensure a happy and productive life in the comfort of their home.

Abrahms, Sally. "New Technology Allows in Home Health Care for Aging in Place - AARP." AARP. AARP, Mar. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.aarp.org/home-family/personal-technology/info-2014/is-this-the-end-of-the-nursing-home.html>.

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