Caregivers Enlisting Technology

July 2007

Baby boomers are using sensors, webcams, GPS devices and wearable emergency buttons to monitor their elderly parents, experts say, allowing seniors to have a sense of independence while reassuring caregivers of their charges' safety. A number of companies are bringing various monitoring technologies together, according to experts, including a detector that uses floor sensors, rather than a device strapped to the body, to detect when someone falls, feeding the information into a PC, which transmits it to a monitoring service or caregiver. Also in the works are a mobile heart rate monitor, wireless sensors that monitor falls, weight and blood pressure inside and outside the home in real time, experts say, using a smart phone to transmit the information via text messages to a health care service, a patient's doctor and other caregivers. Read more:
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