Transforming Long-Term Care via Mobile Health ?

By:?Joe Conard

Click here to view the full article

As people age, the choice between living at home or moving into a long-term care facility can be a difficult one.? While long-term care facilities offer more reliable safety, security and access to medical care than living at home, the desire on the part of the elderly to maintain their freedom can often overshadow any other concerns.? Complicating this already difficult issue is the looming demand of the Baby Boomer generation.? Numbering nearly 80 million strong, the first Baby Boomers officially reached retirement age in January, 2011, and as this unique cohort continues to join the geriatric ranks, the demand for more elder care services may critically overtax an already embattled industry, making the decision of where and how to live in old age that much more difficult.

In a 2010 member survey, the AARP found nearly 75% of Baby Boomers polled would prefer to remain in their homes as long as possible.? Aging-in-place, as it is known, is extremely popular among the elderly.? However, the challenges of ensuring a safe environment with proper access to medical care in the home can be daunting.? To combat these challenges, a variety of recent technological innovations in the telemedicine and at-home care fields have put the dream of aging-in-place in reach for a much greater share of the elder population.

Technological innovations in care have made it increasingly possible for the elderly to balance their medical needs with their desire for freedom. The GrandCare monitoring tool provides a comprehensive care management system for in-home use, combining functions such as blood pressure monitoring, safety controls and even controls for social activities into a single user-friendly platform.? Microsoft HealthVault, known by many in healthcare for its personal health record functionality, is another online resource that provides the elderly with the tools they need to manage their care. It provides compatible medical devices, applications that assist with medication, and even remote monitoring capabilities so family and caregivers may check an elder?s status at any time.

Telemedicine advances have also created new opportunities for the elderly to remain at home.? Skype has already been employed by elderly patients who wish to reach healthcare professionals when distance is an obstacle.? For diagnosis and prevention, eTime?s home endoscope and WebcamMD?s USB camera can provide physicians with a close up view of any body part in real time for fast, accurate diagnoses.? And medical researchers have even used Bluetooth technology to recently improve access to emergency medical assistance for the elderly.? Recent research in Inderscience?s ?International Journal of Electronic Healthcare? describes a new device capable of measuring electrical signals from the heart, analyzing them to produce an electrocardiogram and then sending a text message alert to the local hospital if medical attention is required.? Patients who would have been required to remain in hospitals for observation following a heart attack can now return to their homes and continue their lives instead.

Telemedicine and care-based technology are already demonstrating a potential to revolutionize how the elderly are cared for, and even more innovations may soon be within reach.? The timing of these developments could not be more apropos, as the long-term care industry braces itself for the coming wave of retiring boomers.? With luck, these new technological leaps in care will not only aid caregivers with their coming demands but also allow an ever-greater contingent of the elderly to remain at home through their golden years.

Like this:

One blogger likes this post.

Source: http://iht2blog.com/2012/03/28/transforming-long-term-care-via-mobile-health/

joe paterno san francisco 49ers san francisco 49ers giants vs 49ers sf 49ers jane goodall joe paterno died