When PERS alone is just not enough…
“Panic Buttons for Seniors Must Go”
He shared a story about his own grandmother who was living in a facility with panic buttons. She had a fall and because she was unable to press the button, she ended up not receiving help for 8 hours. He called for more passive monitoring soutions that did not require involvement from the individual in order to effectively work.
Clearly at GrandCare, this topic is of utmost importance… I don’t think there has to be only one solution. Perhaps a combination of several pieces can cover several areas. We combine digital health technology (what are her vitals, is she taking her medications, touchscreen education, prompts & assessments) as well as Activity of daily living remote monitoring…what you were talking about – a series of motion/temp, door, bed sensors can passively give relatives and caregivers information on someone’s routine activities… could this have saved her life? Not sure… but you certainly would have known MUCH sooner that she hadn’t been moving around, perhaps she missed a medication dosage, perhaps you’d be notified she didn’t access the fridge at mealtime or hadn’t used a bathroom in a number of hours.
The perfect fit is having a combination of a PERS in Conjunction with a system like GrandCare. If someone is experiencing chest pain and is capable of pressing a button, a crisis mgmt system could be a life saving device. If someone is having other symptoms (excessive weight gain, wandering, noncompliance, failure to return to bed during the night, etc), the only way you would remotely know that is from a Digital Health/ADL system. There are some very forward-thinking providers and in-home caregivers out there that have seen the professional caregiving POWERED by technology is the way to go. I think many times a provider looks at technology as THE solution and instead, it needs to become a vehicle to provide a solution instead of letting the tech define the care.
So who is blazing the trail? Who is doing this right… Just a few honorable mentions go to:
LivHOME’s CareMonitor™ powered by GrandCare Systems®:
One of the largest in-home care providers who combine hands-on care management, caregiving & technology as one complete solution to keep folks independent at home.
www.livhomecaremonitor.com
Lutheran Homes of NY in Jamestown, NY:
They have created SMARTMENT™ homes that combine GrandCare’s digital health monitoring and socialization along with a Personal Emergency Response System and Activity of Daily Living Monitoring!!
I believe the digital health and activity monitoring space is heating up…It’s an exciting time to be a part of this disruptive industry! Thanks again to Neil for the insightful, personal and thought-provoking article!!
