Seniors and Stairs

As I was driving around my neighborhood, I began to realize that most homes are composed of two stories. While I live in a one-story home and had not given much thought to walking up and down stairs everyday (not to mention carrying things up and down stairs everyday), I thought that I should address the issue of elders climbing stairs. According to the Arthritis Foundation, a national nonprofit organization, rheumatoid arthritis is a “chronic inflammatory disease of the joints that affects an estimated 1.3 million Americans.” The body’s immune system attacks the membrane lining the joints, resulting in joint damage involving pain and inflammation. Joints usually affected are those of the hands, elbows, knees, and ankles. This can make walking up and down stairs not only painful but dangerous.

On the blog Aging Parents Authority, an article entitled “Problems for Elderly People Climbing Stairs” reveals that “30 percent of people over age 65 and 50 percent over age 80 will fall once during the next year.” In addition to offering suggestions such as keeping stairs well-lit and installing a handrail for additional support, the article recommends a stair lift for those for whom climbing the stairs is unsafe or too painful. A stair lift is a great way for elders who are unable to climb stairs to enjoy full use their homes. Instead of being “stuck” on the lower levels of their homes or even being forced to move from homes they have lived in for decades, a stair lift is a safe alternative for elders to be able to enjoy both levels of their home. ThyssenKrupp Access sells the Levant stair lift. It has a simple controller that can be operated by those even with limited hand coordination, and it features folding armrest, seat, and footrests so that it is unobtrusive (and does not become a tripping hazard itself!).

While a stair lift is more expensive, it may be worth it for seniors who suffer from arthritis and find themselves unable to handle walking up and down multiple times a day. It also enables seniors to carry things more easily from the bottom level to the top level without worrying about keeping their balance. Most importantly, a stair lift can return a sense of independence to a senior. Instead of waiting for assistance or asking family members or friends to carry things up and down the stairs, a senior can move from one floor to another comfortably and safely.


Aging Parents Authority article: http://agingparentsauthority.com/elderly-needs/problems-for-elderly-people-climbing-stairs/
Arthritis Today article from the Arthritis Foundation: http://www.arthritistoday.org/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/all-about-ra/what-is-ra.php
ThyssenKrupp Levant Stair Lift: http://www.tkaccess.com/levantstairlift.asp

"Can You Hear Me Now?": Hearing Loss and Telephones

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, hearing loss is “one of the most common conditions affecting older adults.” In fact, “roughly one-third of Americans 65 to 74 years of age and 47 percent of those 75 and older have hearing loss.” A particular hearing loss associated with aging, known as presbycusis, is the result of the loss of hair cells within the fluid filled part of the inner ear. Since these hair cells convert the sound vibration to an electrical impulse which travels to the brain, the loss of these hair cells results in poorer hearing, especially for high frequencies. The National Institute of Health SeniorHealth has a four minute video clip that does an excellent job explaining hearing loss and I have listed the link for easy viewing.

NIH SeniorHealth video "Older Adults and Hearing Loss": http://nihseniorhealth.gov/hearingloss/hearinglossdefined/video/hb1_na.html?intro=yes

So, what can elders do? While hearing aids are certainly a great option, I wanted to bring in another avenue. One device that may help elders deal with hearing loss is CapTel, a captioned telephone. When you dial on a CapTel phone, you are connected to a captioning service that transcribes what the person you called is saying. This transcript appears on the display section of your CapTel phone so you can read it and then speak your responses, just like you would on a regular telephone. When others call you, they first dial the captioning service and input your telephone number. Then their part of the conversation will be transcribed on your CapTel phone.

The CapTel phone is a great way for seniors to keep in touch with friends and loved ones, especially if using a computer is challenging. Phones are ubiquitous and being unable to use phones can be very limiting. For example, elders may have trouble making restaurant reservations, confirming doctors’ appointments, or even just chatting with their grandchildren. The CapTel is a great option because it is simple to use; it works just like a regular telephone. Hearing loss does not have to result in strained relationships or frustrating miscommunication. An elder can continue to use a familiar, comfortable device to communicate with the outside world despite his or her aged-related limitations.

NIH SeniorHealth on hearing loss: http://nihseniorhealth.gov/hearingloss/hearinglossdefined/01.html
CapTel: http://www.captel.com/how-it-works.php

Managing Medications

Medications are an extremely important component of an elder’s health and managing those medications can be a complex process. One aspect is timing. An elder has to remember when to take his medication and then remember whether or not he has, in fact, taken his medication. For example, remembering that he took his blood pressure medication at breakfast might be challenging in the evening, especially if he is taking multiple over pills over the course of the day. Another aspect is ordering medication and picking up medication from a pharmacy or making sure that it can delivered to your home. In order not to miss dosages, an elder has to order before the medication has run out and also place orders monthly (generally).

Managing medications can be a huge concern for caretakers, who worry that their loved ones may unintentionally forget to take their medications or accidentally mix up some medications, taking too much of one and not enough of another. On the blog Elder Care Café, an article on “Managing Your Aging Parent’s Medications” talks about the importance of having a reliable pharmacist and suggests making pill bottles look different, perhaps by color coding, to ensure that an elder would be able to differentiate between his or her various medications.

For those elders who need a bit more assistance, there are some high-tech options, including Maya from MedMinder. According to its website, Maya is a “smart wireless pill box” that links to web-based reporting system. It holds a one week supply of up to four daily doses of medications. The pill compartment flashes when the pills should be taken. If not taken after a certain period of time, it beeps and then finally calls the patient. One of my favorite features is that there is an alert for the wrong pill box being open. Taking the wrong medications can be dangerous and even lethal and this system ensures that elders are taking their proper medications at the proper times. Additionally, it communicates with the caregivers, so they know if their loved one has taken his or her pills. As medicine progresses farther and farther, there seem to be more medications and supplements that help us live longer and in better health. As medications have proliferated, so have new ways for caregivers and elders to manage them safely.

Maya from MedMinder: http://www.medminder.com/Medication-Management-System
Elder Care Cafe article: http://www.eldercarecafe.net/managing-your-aging-parent%E2%80%99s-medications/

Hygiene Help

Now, I am not here to accuse anyone of taking things, such as the ability to take a bath or shower unassisted, for granted. Instead, I want to share some options that will help keep one independent in personal hygiene for a longer period of time in one’s life. Cleanliness is essential to one’s health and one’s general well-being. Consequently, being unable to bathe or shower without asking for assistance, needing to wait to fit a bath into someone else’s schedule or being afraid that you might hurt yourself make it more likely that they will chose to limit the amount of time they spend bathing or showering. This can have negative impacts on their health and their self-esteem (as they may be embarrassed that they need to ask for help or may be angry that they can no longer shower privately and unassisted).

The bathroom is certainly a dangerous area of the home, as Noah Lam reports that 12,000 people die from slipping on slippery floors or stairs in his 2007 Disabled-World article on bathroom safety. He points out that an elder may have a less certain sense of balance and strength and thus is more likely to injure himself or herself. Lam suggests grab bars and shower chairs among others but I would like to add walk-in bathtubs.

One of my mother’s friends told me about how his mother loved to take baths. She loved soaking in the water in the early evenings and found baths soothing but he expressed concern about her safety. She had had trouble getting out of the tub recently and had begun to take baths less and less frequently. An elderly woman was being forced to give up one of her favorite habits because she was no longer as physically capable as she used to be. A walk-in tub is a great option for her. A walk-in tub has a water-tight door on the side that enables elders to enter and exit the tub easily. One company, Bliss Tubs, also include a “chair-height seat” for “easy up and down.” Their tubs fit into existing bathtub space so there is no need to remodel an entire bathroom and the tubs have a retractable hand-held showerhead so elders can chose to shower according to their preferences. I think this is a great product and one which will accomplish a number of goals: restore independence to elders, encourage personal hygiene among elders, and make bathing safer for elders. There are adjustments that can be made so elders can continue to safely enjoy their routines, such as evening baths.

Bliss Tubs: http://www.blisstubs.com/questions.htm#shower
Noah Lam's article: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/bathroom-safety.shtml

The Human Element in Monitoring Elders

Okay, so I know that I already published a post on home sensors to better able seniors to age safely in their homes. But I think Jennifer Ludden’s article “Wired Homes Keep Tabs on Aging Parents” in NPR warrants mention. While Ludden investigates a ResCare “telecaregiver” a human caregiver who monitors elders through sensors placed throughout their house and interacts with them each evening over the computer, similar to Skype. In fact, the elders have come to regard her as a “friend.” This is interesting because loneliness and isolation is a huge problem for elders and can lead to health issues, such as depression. While the article may have been peddling a product, it is a reminder that support from a concerned individual, even from afar, remains important and beneficial to elders.

What struck me about the article was Ludden’s comment on human care. While the “telecaregiver” can monitor the elders, a home health aide helps the elder woman with bathing each day. The adult daughter of elders “is grateful the camera can monitor the quality of that care.” The cameras are no longer just to ensure that elders do not harm themselves, by falling or failing to take medication for example; the cameras can also ensure that the human caregivers are acting appropriately. Elder abuse is a huge concern and, of course, this is one of the fundamental reasons why elders do not want to leave their homes and live in assisted living communities or nursing homes. Now, not only can videos help them remain at home, video monitoring can also ensure a high standard of care from humans.

While the previous post’s article stressed monitors as a way for adult children to limit their physical contact with their aging parents, I think this article showed the potential for video monitoring to directly intersect with human care giving. Perhaps videos can be used in nursing homes or assisted living homes to ensure that elders are receiving proper care. The technology that we hoped would lessen other people’s responsibilities may actually increase the amount of scrutiny human care givers face and thus elevate the level of service elders and their loved ones demand.

NPR article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129104664
ResCare: http://www.rescarehomecare.com/rest-assured-telecare.php

Monitoring Elders

On July 28,2010, the New York Times published an article by Hilary Stout entitled "Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents." Technology allows children and their aging parents to intersect in new ways. Today, children can easily travel far from their parents, moving to other states, countries, and continents while at the same time technology is enabling children to be closer to their parents than ever before. Systems, such as GrandCare, allow families to place sensors in the homes of their parents in order to ensure that elders take their medication, eat meals, and sleep soundly.

Stout writes, “The purpose is to provide enough supervision to make it possible for elderly people to stay in their homes rather than move to an assisted-living facility or nursing home — a goal almost universally embraced as both emotionally and financially desirable.” Indeed, if an elder just needs reminders to take his or her medication and some prompting to each three meals a day, assisted living might not be suitable while in-home care would be expensive. GrandCare is connected to internet and adult children can log onto the GrandCare website to see updates on their parents, including alerts about open front doors or a sudden spike in temperature and blood pressure (differing from previous days’ recordings). The elder can also receive and send messages from their caregivers, such as viewing pictures of their grandchildren.

So are elders willingly to have sensors in their homes? Are children willingly to receive text messages or phone calls regarding their parents’ temperature changes or eating habits? I think this is a great option. Yes, it may be a bit invasive but so is a caregiver telling you to take your medication and so is assisted living, especially for those who are not quite at that point. While some parents may not want to be so closely monitored by their children, at least children can be involved in their parents’ health and may be more able to help their parents seek preventative health care. If a sensor system ultimately enables seniors to safely age in their beloved homes for a few extra years, then I think it is a positive new step for senior home care.

The links:

Article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/garden/29parents.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
GrandCare systems http://www.grandcare.com/page/features/how_it_works

Making Reading Easier

On February 15, 2010, Computerworld published the article “14 tech tools that enhance computing for the disabled” by Brian Nadal. Mr. Nadal highlights 14 tools that help those with various impairments navigate computers. Examples include a no hands mouse that is controlled by feet pedals and Eyegaze Edge, which allows those without use of their arms to control a computer with just their eyes. I would like to focus on one example, WizCom Technologies’ InfoScan TS Elite scanning pen. This pen scans and stores up to 500 pages of printed material. It can read the pages back to you or can be transferred to a computer. It costs approximately $150.00.

This pen sounds great! I love that it has migrated from the computer (but remains close enough to stay compatible through a USB connection). Poor eyesight due to old age or diseases and strokes make it hard to read everything, not just what is on the computer screen. Reading the newspaper or a magazine article that a friend passed on along is a huge challenge. This pen would enable elders to “read” such things as the menus in restaurants, the handouts at meetings or events, papers or charts in doctors’ offices, and the songbooks in religious services more easily. The small size and large capacity make it perfect to take outside the home and might provide elders with confidence should they be given something to read at any of their various destinations. It might be challenging because the voice may disturb others but at least it presents an opportunity (and it is better to leave the room and have it read to you than have to ask others or risk missing an opportunity to ask questions because you did not have the information at hand.) The article does not mention whether insurance covers its cost but it might be well worth looking into and certainly provides hope for a “bright” future for those with vision deficiencies.

Speaking of "bright," another great tool for those who can read (and thus do not need the page read to them) but might benefit from some extra reading light is the LightWedge Book Light. The LightWedge is a pane of plexiglass with 2 LED lights that sits on top a book's page and lights up the whole page. Jim Miller extolled it in his 2004 article "Gadgets help seniors enjoy reading, hobbies." This is a great, easy way for seniors to read more easily. Its $25 price tag is certainly a bonus, as the ability to enjoy a hobby is priceless.


Nadal's article:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9149058/14_tech_tools_that_enhance_computing_for_the_disabled?taxonomyId=12&pageNumber=9

Miller's article: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/6380218/

Robots in Nursing Homes

On June 21, 2010, the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled “It's Not a Stuffed Animal, It's a $6,000 Medical Device: Paro the Robo-Seal Aims to Comfort Elderly, but Is It Ethical?” by Anne Tergesen and Mihi Inada. The article is about a robot, called Paro, which resembles a baby harp seal and is meant to help elderly adults, especially those with dementia. According to the inventor Takanori Shibata, Paro can “recognize voices, track motion and ‘remember’ behaviors that elicit positive responses from patients.” Made and distributed in Japan, it was cleared by U.S. regulators as a medical device.

I thought the view of Dr. Thomas, who founded the Green House Project which encourages nursing homes to be more like regular homes, was interesting. He is supportive of technology that performs “mundane tasks” but wants to leave the “relationship piece” of care giving to the humans. I do not know if the divisions between “mundane” tasks and meaningful tasks are as clear cut as Dr. Thomas suggests. For example, making the bed might be a good excuse for a nurse to develop a relationship with the patient and perhaps lead to a meaningful interaction. Sometimes caregivers might be better at performing the “mundane” tasks than robots and caregivers can make the elders feel more at home. On the other hand, the elder may be more comfortable sharing his or her fears with an inanimate object instead of a person. Robots might be more soothing for the elders than a nurse could be. Either way, having other options of care is a positive step.

In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal article by Sharon LaFraniere entitled "China Might Force Visits to Mom and Dad," there is a huge concern in China over the state of their elders. With the increase of urbanization and the demographic shift in which elders greatly outnumber young adults, elders are in increasing danger of feeling neglected. Under this proposal, elders can sue their children for failing to visit them regularly. This illustrates the importance of social relationships for the elderly. Suicide rates have increased and depression is a huge problem. Robots and mandated family visits are ways to keep elders feeling connected.

Quite simply, care giving is hard. Using technology to ease the burden on caregivers, particularly those caring for multiple patients in nursing homes and those with cognitive or physical impairments, is praiseworthy. Some patients will not respond but others might. As long as patients are not being harmed, I think there is nothing ethically wrong with allowing those in need of a friend to become attached to a cute robot that can ultimately help them communicate better with humans and feel better about themselves.
These developments force us to question and more precisely define just want we think caretaking is and how we can go about living out our definition.

The Robot article:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704463504575301051844937276-lMyQjAxMTAxMDIwNjEyNDYyWj.html
The proposed amendment article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/world/asia/30beijing.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=china%20might%20force%20visits%20to%20mom%20and%20dad&st=cse

Welcome and an introduction

Welcome to Assistive Devices/Technology for Disabled Elders!

A bit about me: My name is Molly Underwood and I am a Junior at the University of Southern California. (Fight On!) I am a History major with a concentration in Early Modern Europe (I particularly enjoy England in the 1500s, so Renaissance and Reformation stuff). I love to read and watch movies.

Why I am blogging: I am taking Gerontology 380: Diversity in Aging and I have chosen to create a blog for my final project.

Why you should read this blog: Because it will be fun! Yes, I am blogging for a school project and yes I will receive a grade but I chose this topic because I am interested in it and that means I will work hard to you, loyal readers, interested as well. Everyone who is lucky will grow old and many of us or our loved ones will experience health problems and challenges and may need a hand. This blog will explore some available options our there for those in need of assistance. Happy reading!