GrandCare Featured on “America Tonight”
With our senior population booming, America Tonight examines the problems and possibilities in the way we provide care. For more stories on elder care, check out the rest of America Tonight’s special series “Aging America.”
Robot care for aging parents? With new technology, adult children monitor aging parents 24/7
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The feisty 89-year-old [Eleanor Boysen] proudly declared that she can swear in both German and Polish. But she’s also diabetic with mobility issues, and her daughter Lynn worries about leaving her alone in the basement apartment they share, particularly when she travels for work.
“It was always a concern, more of a concern if she were to fall or something, because that has happened a few times,” she said. “And then, she had a heart attack a couple of years ago.”
So, Lynn Boysen installed home sensors in the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom of their apartment.
“They notify my daughter when I do things… like the one in the bathroom. If I’m not there by 9 o’clock and there’s no movement, then she could find out whether there’s something wrong with me,” explained Eleanor Boysen.
It’s a relief for Lynn to know her mother is safe, and a relief for Eleanor to know she’s not as much of a burden.
“She’s got things to do like everybody else,” Eleanor Boysen said. “And this way it makes her free.”