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Seniors helped by technology to live alone andoverma
A New York Times article describes new technologies that are designed to help seniors live independently at home, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13seniors.html?_r=1&hp. Massachusetts attorney Thomas M. Kiley, http://www.tomkileylaw.com, concentrates on legal issues affecting the health of Massachusetts citizens.
According to the article, technologies like eNeighbor relay information via a wireless sensor when there is a problem. The sensor relays information to a central monitoring system that prompts phone calls to the senior, to their neighbors, building managers, and finally to 911, which dispatches firefighters to check out the home. These technologies like eNeighbor and Healthsense promise improved care at low cost, and are backed by large companies like Intel and General Electric.
The aging population is outgrowing the resources of health care dollars. But the seniors who participate in these devices want to stay in their homes as long as possible. Some of the devices include motions sensors, pill compliance detectors, and wireless devices that transmit data on blood pressure, weight, oxygen, and glucose levels. Those seniors say these devices help them both physically and psychologically to be able to stay in their own homes.
According to the article, one basic system, supplied by a health care provider called New Courtland as part of a publicly financed program, cost about $100 a month, far less than a nursing home, where the costs to taxpayers can exceed $200 a day.
Drug compliance is one of the biggest problems for the elderly, especially those with memory loss. Meridian's Jitterbug system costs $20/month, and is a cell phone system of notifying seniors when they are scheduled to take a pill, as well as sending automated alerts to caretakers if they have not taken their medication. Sometimes even knowing the phone is going to ring is enough to remind them to take their medication.
Jeffrey Kaye, director of the aging and Alzheimer's and memory assessment clinics at Oregon Health and Science University, said one of the most useful health technologies was a cheap pedometer, because carrying one motivated people to walk more. He said the ultimate goal of personal health monitoring is so people who know they are being watched modify their behavior to have better health.
The future of these technologies, and the information they gather, can provide unprecedented information about the whereabouts and well-being of older people. In a program with Intel, Dr. Kaye is combing motion data for patterns that indicate the onset of dementia, years before the decline shows up on cognitive tests.
This new technology may help seniors who are having to remain in their own homes as a result of the housing crisis. Another New York Times article reports that the housing crisis has kept thousands of older Americans who need support and care from moving into retirement communities or assisted-living centers, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/us/22home.html?scp=9&sq=&st=nyt.
Many seniors need to first sell their homes before they can buy into retirement homes that require a payment of $100,000 to $500,000 just to move in. According to the article, there is no way to say how many older Americans are having this problem, as no statistics track how many of America's 4.27 million unsold homes are owned by people 65 or older. Industry groups and administrators at retirement homes call the problem a growing one, which is worsening as the financial crisis spreads from real estate to lending markets. It has been felt worst in regions hit hardest by the housing bust. And across the country, occupancy rates for independent and assisted-living facilities have fallen slightly in the last year, by about 2 percent through the middle of 2008, according to the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry.
Some assisted-living centers have brought in real estate agents to teach seniors about online advertising and how to prepare their homes for showings. Others have set up programs with banks to provide bridge loans to homeowners, or are discounting apartments and offering low-interest loans.
