Sensors Help Keep the Elderly at Home
By Leland, John; New York Times,Publication Date: February 13, 2009
Article reports on systems that monitor the health and safety of elderly individuals in their home. The electronic monitoring systems can be a low-cost alternative to nursing-home care, allowing seniors to age in place. The article describes 3 systems in place in the homes of older individuals: (1) eNeighbor, which uses motion detectors throughout the apartment of a 78-year-old woman with severe diabetes and heart disease to discern any irregularities in her movements prompting actions from checking in with a phone call to the resident to alerting a relative, neighbor, or 911, depending on the response. (2) A system, run by Meridian Health, which uses a small voice-output box with a text-display screen to monitor the vital signs of its user, an 86-year-old man with chronic heart failure. The box prompts the user for taking weight and blood-pressure readings and asks prerecorded health-related questions; the information is then relayed to Meridian Health. The company also offers a reminder service which calls the client, an 85-year-old man with memory loss, on his cell phone to alert him to take his medication. If there is no response, the client’s daughter is notified. (3) QuietCare, a system similar to eNeighbor, which offers the son of an 85-year-old woman the added advantage of monitoring her environment via the Internet.
Assistive Products Discussed: QUIETCARE
ENEIGHBOR PERS
ENEIGHBOR AUTO PERS
ENEIGHBOR ADL
Published by: New York Times Company (Website:http://www.nytco.com)
Link to text: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13senior.html?th&emc=th
