Caregiving Articles by Experts

Big electronics companies, such as Philips and Honeywell, have developed high-tech devices for the home that caregivers can use to monitor the activities of their loved ones. With the help of these systems, seniors can live independently in their homes for longer, forestalling the need for care in nursing homes and long-term-care facilities.

Some of the monitoring systems described in this article are expensive, but you may be able to rent them from home-care agencies. Check with your insurance company to see if the cost is covered.

ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING
With eNeighbor Auto-PERS, small, wireless electronic sensors are placed in strategic areas of a senior’s home to monitor activities of daily living (when someone gets out of bed, moves from room to room, etc.). The sensors communicate with a base station located in the senior’s home. If abnormal activity or lack of activity is detected, the base station sends an alert via phone and E-mail to you or someone appointed by you to be on call, such as a health-care provider. There is also a pendant with an emergency call button that can be worn by the senior.

Example: If the shower runs for several hours, the system calls the senior to ask if he/she is OK. If there is no response, the system calls or sends an E-mail alert to someone else, such as a health-care provider or an adult child.

Best for: Seniors capable of taking care of themselves, including taking medications, but who might be prone to falls.

Cost: From $699, plus $59.95 to $89.95 per month for the monitoring service.

Where to buy: Healthsense (800-576-1779, www.healthsense.com).

Also good for independent-living seniors, but without some of eNeighbor’s specialized sensors, such as the bed pad that detects presence in bed, the QuietCare system consists of wireless sensors that detect motion, heat or sound. Placed in frequently used areas of the home—bathroom, bedroom and kitchen—the sensors transmit data to a book-sized base station located in the senior’s home. The station is plugged into an electrical outlet and a phone jack. Data is sent via the phone line to a call center. Caregivers get daily E-mails or can go on-line to a password-protected Web site to check on a loved one’s typical behavior—when he wakes up, uses the bathroom, eats, etc.

When abnormalities in behavior are detected, the call center sends an alert by E-mail, pager or cell-phone voice or text message to the caregiver. In certain instances—for example, no morning activity detected—the call center will call the caregiver.

The base station also detects nonemergencies that may require medical attention. For example, if a person usually uses the bathroom once at night but suddenly starts using it much more often, he might have a urinary tract infection.

Best for: Seniors who don’t require the vigilance of the e-Neighbor system, or who require continual monitoring but whose care is supplemented by home health care part of the day.

Cost: $199 for the hardware (the base station with heat-sensing antenna to detect home temperature plus six monitoring sensors) and about $99 a month (varies by region) for monitoring data and alerting the caregiver.

Where to buy: QuietCare Systems (800-658-6939, www.quietcaresystems.com).

VITAL SIGNS
Viterion Link lets a patient with a chronic disease, such as diabetes, send vital information, such as blood sugar levels, heart rate and blood pressure, to health-care providers and caregivers through the phone line to an Internet server. The patient’s health-care provider can access the server through a secure site on the Internet. The server is able to connect to 20 different personal measuring devices from other companies, such as glucose meters from LifeScan and Bayer.

The more sophisticated Viterion 100 TeleHealth Monitor is designed for home-care use by seniors following an acute episode that required hospitalization. It supplements in-home visits by health-care professionals with frequent vital-sign monitoring and communication with the patient. A display on the screen guides patients through a self-checkup. Patients can measure blood pressure, blood oxygen, blood sugar, weight and temperature. The caregiver (usually your doctor’s office) can send customized health-related questions, such as “Did you sleep well?” and “Are you tired today?” and personalized advice messages.

Viterion products are available only through health-care providers, and the cost may be covered by Medicare or other insurance. If this system is an option for your particular situation, discuss it with your loved one’s doctor.

Cost: Viterion Link starts at less than $200, and service fees start at less than $50 per month. The Viterion 100 is leased, starting at about $100 per month, including service.

More information: Viterion TeleHealthcare (800-866-0133, www.viterion.com).

HEALTH-CARE ALERT
The Genesis Monitor system, by Honeywell HomMed, alerts health-care providers to even small changes in health, avoiding unnecessary emergency room visits and hospitalizations. At a set time, up to four times a day, the system alerts the senior and guides him through the process of taking his vital signs. If the user fails to respond, or if any of the vital signs fall outside preset parameters, the system alerts a health-care provider or caregiver. The unit measures heart rate, blood pressure and temperature and asks questions to provide a more complete picture of an individual’s health. Information and alerts are sent via a standard phone line. Relatives can monitor data through a secure Web site.

This system is available only through Honeywell’s network of home-care agencies (888-353-5440, www.hommed.com).