Can remote monitoring improve home-based senior care?

Amidst all the tragedy caused by COVID-19, there is also some good news. The pandemic is driving the development of innovations that will make it safer and more comfortable for seniors to age with dignity in their own homes.

Exploring technology for dignified living  
One notable area of innovation is remote care. Many US care providers are now considering ways to approach senior in-home health care models more holistically through several technologies that can address the specific challenges experienced by seniors.  

Telehealth – remote communication with patients – is to thank for continued doctor-patient contact during the pandemic. But actual data is often missing from these conversations. It is after all difficult to provide advice and prescribe treatments without real insights into patients health status. That’s why embracing remote health monitoring seems to be a perfect complement to telehealth.  
 
The sports fitness watches and mobile phone apps currently available on the market hint at what is possible, but they are not entirely suitable for remote monitoring of the elderly. These devices pose challenges to senior demographics, including complexity of use and set up. Consumer devices also pose challenges to service providers, who have to adhere to patient privacy regulations and want a device that is simple to onboard patients with. 
 
A better alternative for seniors 
There is an emerging picture of what is needed: purpose-built, senior-friendly wearables that continuously gather and upload health data; devices that securely capture information and send alerts to both the user and the care team whenever a complication is detected.

For remote monitoring systems to be confidently deployed in home-based elderly care, they must fulfil certain requirements. The technology must be customisable in order to consistently match user requirements for seamless, unobtrusive and reliable bi-directional communication on relevant health markers. And applications must be simple and manageable for all kinds of users, regardless of their age or technological understanding.

Read the original, unabridged version of this article by Arnol Rios published in MedCity News

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