A Breakthrough in IoT the Next Big Thing in Elder Care?

Ever since the Medicaid and Medicare started covering home care and home health services, the number of individuals receiving care exponentially surged. As per the recent studies, around 65 million people in the US are offering care to the elderly.

We’ve witnessed a substantial change in entire medical and non-medical services in recent years, and elder care isn’t untouched. Internet of Things technology is already transforming senior care and has provided adequate enhancements for the ones who prefer aging at home.

For all those who aren’t aware of IoT and how it can influence senior living: it is a technology that empowers devices that weren’t earlier smart enough to send and receive information and have been redesigned.

Since IoT aids monitoring the health of seniors, it could eventually be helpful in detecting problems in advance resulting in reduced long-term care costs. Here we’ll discuss in detail how IoT is emerging as a game-changer for the entire home care industry in a couple of years.

Home Care Agencies could Enhance Clients’ Experience through IoT

Smart senior homes with remote monitoring are perhaps the best use of technology that ensures the elderly get adequate care even when there’s no caregiver around. Wrist-worn wearable with functionality to track the location and activities of the seniors could help caregivers to analyze the need for any assistance and could reach them in case of emergency.

Additionally, a single tap could establish communication with the concerned whenever required. The artificial intelligence and machine learning empowered smart devices are capable of predicting the health-related issues that might occur if proper medication and lifestyle changes aren’t considered.

How it can enhance senior living?

The regular insights from the senior’s daily routine also lend a hand in assessing the mental health of the individuals and instances that can trigger some severe symptoms. This can assist caregivers to seek medical intervention at the earliest.

Agencies could regularly keep an eye on the alerts that are sent through the device depicting serious issues including fall alert, wandering at night, or critical health. This improves aging for the ones who prefer staying at their home instead of a nursing home.

Smart Homes & Virtual Assistance

Virtual assistants could be a great companion for the ones living alone. Several virtual assistance specifically designed to aid senior care could be the perfect option for helping seniors in their daily chores through interaction. Also, the elderly could quickly connect with their family and friends by commanding virtual assistance.

Moreover, these smart devices are capable of reminding the seniors regarding their medication and other important tasks that they need to accomplish on a daily basis. Also, they can quickly search the internet regarding any useful information or to order stuff online like grocery through just a voice command. This reduces the efforts, which otherwise could be quite challenging for the seniors.

On the other hand, smart homes have already transformed the elderly living and there’s enough room for their expansion in the near future. While most of the people feel comfortable while controlling their room lights or HVAC through smart devices and mobile applications, there are many who are using the technology to ensure better safety for the elderly.

Why there’s a need for Smart Home?

Various sensors are being implanted at the windows, doors, and even bed that analyzes the activities of the seniors and assist them in daily chores. Also, these sensors could immediately report any emergency situation to the caregivers remotely monitoring the individual.

Researches are being made to make this technology even better by invoking the potential of robotics and machine learning that could further decrease the dependency on the availability of a caregiver.

Tools to Assist the Disabled

Different products are available to assist the disabled elderly in a way that improves aging at their place. Whether it is a smart hearing aid with wireless connectivity to smartphones or a pair of spectacles that can sense obstacles, everything can aid in independent elderly living.

More and more emphasis is given to the devices that can connect with other appliances in the home that can simplify things for the ones that face issues in accomplishing even the basic tasks. Apart from this, smart implants in the elderly could be quite beneficial for the ones dealing with health issues and are living alone. These include a pacemaker that can provide quick insights to the overall heart health in real-time for avoiding future complications.

Also, these smart devices can be paired with any mobile device to generate health logs that can be further utilized by medical practitioners to plan medication and relevant treatment. A glucose monitor or a blood pleasure wearable helps in figuring out any unusual measuring, which is instantly reported to the healthcare provider.

Some companies are developing smart sensors that can be implanted to measure the post-surgery improvement of an individual that can ensure that the patient is taking adequate measures for a healthy & speedy recovery.

Home Security Solutions

Smart devices can enhance home security through sensors and cameras that are interconnected with smart locks. Most of the elderly are concerned about the overall safety of their home especially the ones who are living alone.

Moreover, a dedicated system that controls HVAC could be integrated in a way that it collects key data from the indoor environment and sends data to the smartphone. One can adjust the temperature and even control doors and window locks for enhanced comfort. All these aspects are eventually under refinement and one can expect a much better & reliable IoT solution in the coming years.

Conclusion

With the ever-increasing demands of the home care industry, the reliability of technology is increasing day by day. We just can’t neglect the role of smart devices aiding home care agencies and caregivers in managing care, which would be soon become an integral part of care delivery.

IoT is emerging as a game-changer for the entire home care and health care industry. We can soon expect substantial improvement in implementing technology to ease the lives of elderly individuals.

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