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