How is Technology Helping Seniors Age Safely in Their Homes?
In the era of aging baby boomers, families, and caregivers are actively seeking innovative solutions to ensure the safety and well-being of their elderly loved ones.
Innovative solutions to assist with monitoring for chronic health conditions, facilitate transportation to medical appointments or aid with daily tasks is widely sought after.
Embracing technological advancements that empower individuals to age gracefully in the comfort of their own homes minimizes emergency room visits and exorbitant nursing home expenses. Overall, the use of technology will enhance a person’s overall quality of life during their golden years.
Around 90% of Americans aged 65 and older wish to remain in their homes as long as possible, and 80% expect to live their days in their current residence.
-AARP
Technological advances help promote aging in place with the use of devices such as connected scales, remote sensors, remote glucose monitors, and blood pressure cuffs — also included are other types of medication adherence predictive analytics, voice command technologies, and telemedicine.
Some ways in which technology is helping the elderly age well at home are:
- Peace of Mind:
Smart home technology and wearables help capture the steps of older adults, their sleep patterns, heart rate, and other motions in real time. If the provider chooses, they can even employ contextual indicators to see when the light in the bathroom is turned on and the frequency of the door opening. All these pieces aggregate in the cloud and are offered to the family to see.
Additionally, by hiring in-home caregivers, families can feel confident in the client-caregiver matching for quality care delivery, the development of care plans, and assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as housekeeping, meal preparation, and more that the in-home caregivers can provide.
Home care software assists caregivers, clients, and families in precisely managing data and care options.
- Fills the Caregiver Gap:
The elderly population growth has increased the demand for in-home caregivers.
A recent report shows that there will be roughly 50 million caregivers in the United States by 2020, and there will be nearly 120 million in need of caregivers.
-AARP
While there’s an increased demand for elderly home care, the caregiver shortage is also increasing at a staggering rate, which is sure to impact the quality of care. As more and more companies are stepping in to fill the gap, looking for an AI-based home care software can be very beneficial.
Investing in technology like Artificial Intelligence can solve recruitment efforts by focusing on caregiver retention. In addition, AI can help home care businesses grow, stabilize growth, and help businesses achieve heights of success by monitoring businesses’ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in real time.
Using modern innovations, home care agencies can predict caregiver retention, foresee caregiver turnover risk, analyze individual performance, and minimize caregiver churn rates.
Additionally, many companies are stepping into the space to fill gaps, ensuring quick and safe care scheduling. Other businesses recruit caregivers with mobility, medication management, companionship, and more.
Mobile care management technology platforms schedule trained professional caregivers to work with older adults and anyone else in need of home care. Using software that tracks things like meals, exercise, and medication programs, as well as ensuring family and providers have up-to-date and timely information is a wonderful resource to have. A home care management software solution helps to close care gaps, improving the lives of older adults at home.
- Selling Seniors on Technology:
One of the major challenges with aging in place is that there aren’t many integrated individual point solutions. The biggest drawback currently for a lot of technologies are the challenges in customer adoption.
To simplify life, vendors must combine solutions in a single platform like Google Home or Amazon Echo over the next half-decade. Imagine the convenience where a grandmother speaks to an electronic device to arrange a virtual visit with her grandchildren on the other side of the world- all while pushing a button.
Friction may disappear by selling things to older people, making adoption take off. Another point is that families and providers tend to see better outcomes as older people feel less isolated, better engaged, and free from depression and stress, making room for better health- all thanks to an easy and much accessible technology.
- Two Transactions and Conversations:
Another barrier to adopting technology is that companies assume the consumer is solely the elderly person using the technology . However, the reality is that the children purchase high-tech solutions for their parents only after the elderly adult agrees to use them.
Many startups don’t understand the essence of two transactions and two conversations. For example, one transaction may be financial, where money is involved. The second transaction, on the other hand, involves an elderly parent allowing someone to come into their house to put in new technology they don’t yet understand. This can be an overwhelming experience.
The real issue comes down to understanding the elderly’s needs- Who are they? What are their needs? What are their likes? And what are their capabilities?
Recognizing an elderly person’s needs can go a long way in promoting a home care solution best fit for them.
Home Care, Technology, and the Elderly- We’re in This Together
In the Home Care Industry, business operations and the quality of care that is provided to the elderly population can greatly improve with the use of technological advancements. Technology can be a positive change in an elderly individual’s life and make certain day to day tasks more accessible. Technological enhancements should be embraced to continue improving how the elderly population can age safely in their own homes for as long as possible.
