8 Technologies Changing Home Healthcare
Technologies such as sensors, GPS, and even senior-focused social networks can help seniors continue to live at home.
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The home health technology market is poised to take off in 2015, as devices support multigenerational goals: to get in shape, preserve fitness, or age at home.
Next year, multiple factors should combine to allow more elders and people with disabilities to live at home if they want. Government agencies, including Medicare and Medicaid, want cost-effective alternatives to assisted living and nursing homes; many families, comfortable with technology, want older relatives to live nearby but desire a balance between caretaking and their personal lives; and the tech to make these things happen is becoming more widely available and affordable.
The costs for nursing home and assisted living care have grown at rates higher than overall inflation, whereas the cost of in-home care increased at 1% or less over the last five years, according to Genworth Financial. In 2013, the median national cost for nursing homes grew to almost $84,000 in 2013 versus about $65,000 in 2012, it said. In addition, almost 90% of seniors want to live at home as they age, AARP found.
Although mobile devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, analytics, and cloud-based services permit almost every age group to use technology for better health, perhaps no generation is poised to benefit more than seniors. That's good news, considering people aged 65 and older -- which account for about 41 million people or 13% of the population today -- will represent one-fifth of the country's population by 2050. By that time, the United States will be home to 19 million people aged 85 or older, according to the 2010 Census. If the nation begins rolling out senior-friendly technologies now, it should be in good shape for the generational shift predicted within the next 35 years.
In 2010, 3.1% of Americans aged 65 or older and 3.2% of those aged 75 to 84 lived in nursing homes, the census found. Almost one-fourth of those 95 and older resided in nursing homes. Today, almost 40% of those 65 or older have at least one disability, the government's December National Institute on Aging Report found.
Many seniors are concerned about their physical, emotional, and financial safety. When these family members live by themselves, caregiving often falls on nearby relatives, almost half of whom spend more than $5,000 annually to tend to their loved one. About 39% of Americans surveyed were caregivers to an adult, with 70% holding full-time jobs, according to Pew Research's "Family Caregivers Are Wired For Health" report.
Technology can help relieve some of this burden on family members while keeping elderly people connected to relatives, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Of course, technology is not a panacea. Not all elderly or physically- or mentally-challenged people are candidates for remaining at home. But experts in aging agree more seniors could stay in their residences longer if they installed several of today's technologies.
Because today's oldest generations did not grow up with gadgets and might be uncomfortable with the latest tech, devices must be easy to use. Privacy and security must be seamless, and designers have to consider arthritic joints and fading eyesight.
At some point, however, America's senior population will be composed of people who spent their working and relaxation hours behind keyboards, smartphones, and earbuds. They'll expect technology to play a similar role in their retirement.
In the meantime, there are plenty of opportunities to use technology for home-based care in 2015. Click through our slideshow to see eight examples.
Advanced remote patient monitoring sales accounted for $29.7 billion worldwide in 2014, according to Kalorama Information, and a good deal of that demand came from home treatment and health facilities. "We have received significant interest from elder care providers who are seeking to keep the elderly in their homes rather than moving them to assisted-living centers," Jason Johnson, chair of the Internet of Things Consortium, told Scientific American.
Sensors can be placed around the home -- on doors and windows -- as well as in appliances and on the patient. They alert caregivers if the senior misses a meal, doesn't get out of bed, or falls. Some Alzheimer's patients, for example, remain at home under a program that monitors their movements via sensors and smartphone apps, and alerts their nearby caretakers to risky behavior -- such as leaving the house, forgetting to eat, or leaving water running too long.
One example of a worn sensor is the Lively safety watch, which looks like a smartwatch. "A lot of people don't want to wear the garage door opener," CEO Iggy Fanlo told InformationWeek. "We had to make a beautiful product people aren't ashamed of wearing."
The device, which detects falls as well as inactivity and other situations, connects to sensors and an around-the-clock call center. The waterproof device also has a one-push help button, switchable colored bands, medication reminders, daily activity sharing, step counting, and family alerts.
(Source: Lively)
When seniors are away from home, GPS-tracking technologies allow families, health workers, or law enforcement professionals to locate them in case of emergency. In November, Royal Philips began offering Philips Lifeline GoSafe, a mobile medical alert service. GoSafe covers users via its around-the-clock US-based emergency call response center and a "hybrid" locating approach, which allows response center workers to find seniors in need of assistance even in areas where GPS might not be available, such as indoors or in a parking garage. The technology also senses if users fall, and automatically calls for assistance even if the wearer is incapacitated, Philips said.
On a less critical front, Dafna Ariely, a social scientist and former deputy mayor of Israel -- and grandmother of five who frequently loses her reading glasses -- launched a failed Indiegogo campaign to raise $20,000 for the Look Device, a tracking device for eye glasses. The initiative lives on, the CEO and founder said.
(Source: Look Device)
From monitoring to communication, simple mobile applications give caregivers peace of mind while allowing seniors to get in touch with a few taps on their phones. Reminder apps, which can notify seniors about medications or appointments, are a great tool for busy or absent-minded people of any age. Other apps, such as Red Panic Button, Philips Lifeline, 5Star Service, and TrackerAssist for iOS and Android can be set to alert any number of people if a senior hits a panic button on the smartphone.
(Source: Red Panic Button)
For elderly or infirm patients who need regular monitoring, a slew of devices that connect to their smartphones can reduce expensive, time-consuming doctor visits that might further endanger their health. In addition to the many fitness bands that track sleep, diet, and steps taken, there's a growing number of devices available to measure glucose, blood pressure, heart rate, and other vital measurements. Whether used by a visiting nurse or family member, these devices allow seniors to keep a closer eye on their daily health and eliminate the stress that going to the doctor can create.
(Source: Withings)
Collecting information from multiple sources and analyzing it for insights has become a vital part of healthcare, including care provided to seniors. The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, for instance, uses big data and analytics to provide life-changing home-health services for seniors. Participants in Good Samaritan's LivingWell@Home program use sensors to help identify developing medical conditions before they become problems. The sensors detect seniors' activity levels, sleep patterns, or if they've fallen, enabling Good Samaritan to respond and provide better care around the clock. The program uses IBM analytics software to consolidate the sensor information with clinical and operational data on patients. The data appears in an online dashboard, which a licensed nurse reviews daily for any changes in clients' routines that might suggest a medical concern.
"Partnering with IBM, we're working to enable our clients to take control of their health and make the choice to safely stay in their homes, preventing or delaying the need for a higher level of care," said Rustan Williams, vice president and CIO at The Good Samaritan Society, in a statement. "For many, this is a more affordable option and provides a much better quality of life."
(Source: Good Samaritan)
Most likely, 2015 will not usher in an army of robotic butlers, but seniors (and the rest of us) do already have access to several tools that simplify a number of household chores.
The iRobot family of products includes the Roomba, for vacuuming; the Scooba, for floor scrubbing; the Braava, for mopping; and the Mirra and Looj for outdoor maintenance.
On the wearables front, expect to see smartwatches and other mobile devices gain tools that can help seniors. OtoSense, for example, offers apps that translate doorbells, alarms, telephone rings, and other sounds into visual alarms for mobile devices that users can see and feel.
(Source: iRobot Braava)
Today, only 18% of seniors own smartphones, so mobile app adoption will remain low until Baby Boomers enter the senior pool en masse, pundits predict. However, 46% of seniors who go online use social media, according to Pew Research.
To help seniors avoid the commercialization, privacy issues, and related confusion that can plague sites like Facebook, many senior-focused alternatives have popped up. Options include SeniorMaze, designed to connect seniors with others in their age group; AARP Community, which includes discussions on multiple topics of interest to participants; My Boomer Place, that includes games, discussions, and Facebook-like member profiles, and Cool Grandma, designed for seniors and families, with articles, chat areas, and discussion boards. There are even sites where families can create their own social network to connect with grandparents and other relatives, such as eFamily, 23snaps, and Family Crossings.
(Source: eFamily)
Modern telehealth systems' ability to use phones and standard videoconferencing systems to connect patients with doctors, nurse practitioners, and mental health specialists -- plus some promising new advances that hint at changes in regulation and payment -- could free disabled or ill seniors from traveling to regular checkups. Telehealth promises only to get easier to implement, while making test results easier to understand. For instance, products such as Net Power & Light's Spin requires only an iPad and an Internet connection.
"The technology behind telehealth enables doctors to monitor patients remotely and share test results in almost real time. However, the personal touch of a face-to-face interaction is lost," said CEO Tom Engdahl. "Technology [such as Spin] that enables this face-to-face interaction, plus allows for real-time document collaboration, is going to make the biggest impact in the next few years. Imagine video conferencing with your doctor while using on-screen markups to go over test results; this will be the new face of remote medicine."
(Source: Intel Free Press)
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