Aging in Place Technologies + Family Visits = Modern Caregivers
Posted on 23. Mar, 2010 by T.S. Linden in Boomer Views, Gen-X Caregivers ™
AGING IN PLACE TECHNOLOGIES
by Michael TS Lindenmayer
Families live at great distances from one another. A son may live in Beijing, a daughter in Seattle and the widowed aging mother with a chronic illness alone in Boston. The nearest cousin is in Chicago and her best friend retired in Costa Rica. This is the modern age.
This directly impacts a family´s principal caregiver and care receiver. If you are the caregivers living across the country or around the world, there is a progressive caregiving question.
How will I take care of mom or dad when I am far away from them? The answer is a mix of visits, support staff and increasingly aging in place technologies.
Aging Place Technologies View
Aging in place technologies present possibilities as part of the caregiver plan. These also present potential questions and challenges to overcome.
Aging Place System Description
At present the technology is basic. It is a collection of sensors discreetly put about the house which learn how you live. Once a natural flow is established, it will alert caregivers and requested friends if there is a dramatic change, perhaps a medical emergency.
For example, say you fall, are unable to call nor reach help. Or you fail to go to the kitchen for several days and you miss meals. Both of these would indicate that the care receiver has had a major change. And you should touch base with them to see that all is ok or if they need some help.
One company which thinks that the way we live amounts to a total change in society is General Electric and Intel. Their big bet is that people will maintain this cellular versus nuclear family lifestyle. They offer a product called QuietCare (http://bit.ly/4GWCyt). GE and other experts believe this will be a $7.7 billion (http://bit.ly/8ZhlAN) industry by 2012, as the baby boomers face caregiving roles for their elders and increasingly for themselves as well.
Microsoft also sees our lives becoming more Jetson styled. They are investing heavily in a technology that provides a computer that learns all about you and then makes recommendations. This one comes complete with a face to it. (http://nyti.ms/cfYDbD) Their product has yet to be applied to caregiving roles. We can, though, see how it would be a natural fit to this aging in place technology trend.
Challenges + Concerns
Keep The Human Touch
The biggest challenge is the loss of the human touch. Technology is a great warning system, support mechanism and useful tool to overcome the distances. Yet, it is essential that the human touch be present. People need to feel connected, alive and integrated. Part of a tribe. And so, as much as technology can be an assistant and part of the caregiver team, it must be a supplement, not a replacement to the human bond, the connection that is unique, family.
Respect Care Receivers Privacy
The biggest obstacle is the issue of privacy. All the proponents outline that all the information they have is simply around routines and that specific details are unknown. Yet from a care receiver´s perspective, there may be a feeling or concern over maintaining a sense of privacy. This is a courageous conversation to be held between the caregiver and the care receiver.
As a balance must be found between the needs of the care receiver to feel autonomous, private and self reliant and the reality that if a care receiver needs help that they respect the caregivers’ need to be involved and part of the care team and that certain aging in place technologies can be useful.
Caregiver Team
Whether you include technologies as part of your caregiver team or opt out of them, it is essential to think through how you will develop a care plan if you decide to age in place versus consider alternative living arrangements. As always, talk about it early, honestly and respectfully.