Eldercare Technology

Posted on | March 31, 2008 | Comments Off on Eldercare Technology

A Good Source Book

When I present to clinical groups a vision of home-centered health care transformation, technology is always front and center as a lever to trip the health care system toward re-orientation and reform. Why? Because of the power of virtual connectivity, individual and family empowerment, and re-centering health care on the home rather then the clinician’s office or the hospital. From audiences with expertise in aging, there is nearly always a desire for more specifics regarding applications and their uses — like for functional assessment, gait and mobility, sleep assessment, vision and hearing aid, fall prevention and cognitive support.

For them, now, I have a resource to recommend. It is "Eldercare Technology for Clinical Practitioners," edited by Majd Alwan from the Center for Aging Services Technology and Robin Felder at the University of Virginia (Humana Press, 2008). As the authors say in their introduction: "Today we are in the space age of technology for the care of the elderly. We have moved beyond the sphygmomanometer, oral thermometer, wheel chairs and walkers. New developments in sensors that allow following the patient’s gait motion, sleep, vital signs and location can and will provide new means of monitoring and connecting the patient with the health care system. The internet and electronic systems that facilitate information exchange for the elderly patient or their caregiver are only beginning to be utilized and offer great potential. New assistive devices can help clean a house, enhance personal safety, and aid in medication compliance. These represent just a few of the ways technology will meet the demand of ‘I want to stay at home’."