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Must-have high-tech tools for caregivers
When you are caring for someone who is ill, elderly, or disabled, it's important to consider how you'll handle those times when you can't be with your loved one in person. Thankfully, today's technology offers options that can help you keep track of your loved one's safety and well-being.
Most people are familiar with the emergency response system known as Lifeline. Experts call devices and systems like Lifeline "telecare." But there's much more to telecare than emergency assistance. Today, there are a multitude of telecare devices that can help you stay informed of your loved one's activities and needs in real time.
Get your copy of Caregiver's Handbook
Close to 49 million informal or family caregivers offer assistance of all sorts to adults in America. Their efforts are vital to the lives of people struggling with illness, disability, or the changes that often accompany aging. This report will assist you in meeting the needs of the person you care for while attending to your own. It includes financial, legal, and medical information that’s vital to caregivers, as well as a special section devoted to caring for yourself as you navigate caregiving challenges.
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The nearly ubiquitous cellphone has become an essential caregiving tool. It can store and transmit vital signs, provide reminders when a measurement or medication is due, or (in phones with GPS) serve as a tracking device if a person wanders away.
Sensors worn on the body can automatically keep track of vital signs like heart rate and blood pressure. Other home sensors include devices placed on beds and refrigerators that can determine if and when a person is sleeping and eating. Still other devices dispense medications at predetermined times and give reminders to take the pills. And there's even a new, noninvasive technique to measure blood sugar levels using laser beams rather than needles, though this is still under development.
This trend is even extending to home design. A program at Weill Medical College at Cornell University called Environmental Geriatrics focuses on the use of specialized features to create home interiors and products that keep seniors healthy and functioning well on their own.
If you'd like to explore how technology could help you care for your loved one, talk with your geriatric-care manager or doctor. She or he may be able to help point you toward appropriate resources.
And for more on how to develop effective plans and strategies for caregiving, buy Caregiver's Handbook, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School. |
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News and Views from the Harvard Health Blog
Worrying about a problem or a long to-do list at bedtime can be a recipe for insomnia. According to a new report from JAMA, mindfulness meditation can help fight insomnia and improve sleep.
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Working with a geriatric-care manager
When you're exploring a foreign country, a guide who knows the terrain well can help immensely. That's just as true when entering the foreign territory of caregiving. Here, a geriatric-care manager can provide invaluable assistance for individuals and families facing challenging care decisions.
Geriatric-care managers come from many diverse backgrounds, from nursing and social work to gerontology. These professionals can help navigate the tangles of family dynamics, round up medical care and necessary services, keep medical personnel on the same page, and cut through the baffling red tape of private businesses and government bureaucracies.
Some of the tasks geriatric-care managers routinely undertake include:
evaluating needs
connecting people to helpful services, senior housing, and long-term care facilities
bringing families together to discuss options supportively
hiring and monitoring home care personnel
communicating with specialists, hospital and home care staff, and family members to coordinate care
alerting families to financial, medical, or legal problems and suggesting ways to circumvent difficulties
helping with a move to assisted living, a nursing home, an Alzheimer's care unit, or other facilities.
Some geriatric-care specialists focus on assisting older people. Others have expertise coordinating care and services for people of all ages with disabilities or debilitating illnesses.
Although working with a geriatric-care manager may be costly, such expertise can often save money and regrets, especially if you are scrambling to arrange care from afar. The cost of a geriatric-care manager is usually borne by the client or family, rarely by long-term care insurance. If you plan to work with a geriatric-care manager, be sure to get a written agreement outlining the scope of services offered and costs. This document can also help you decide which tasks, if any, might be undertaken by family and friends to save money.
To learn more about geriatric-care managers, or to locate a geriatric-care manager, contact the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers at 520-881-8008 or www.caremanager.org.
For more on developing plans and effective strategies for the hard work of caregiving, buy Caregiver's Handbook, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School. |
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Caregiver's Handbook
Featured content:
| • | Handling daily tasks and common problems |
| • | Developing a plan |
| • | Legal planning |
| • | Financial planning |
| • | Medical planning |
| • | ... and more! |
Click here to read more » |
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