High-tech Ways to Care For the Elderly
By Barbara Mahany
Home Healthcare Houston– Used to be, the phone or good neighbors were the best bets for keeping tabs on someone you love who’s elderly and living alone – especially if you lived too far to buzz over every day.
Now, a host of technological devices and Internet-based solutions are crowding the home healthcare landscape, making it more convenient, and less worrisome, to know that all is well with an aging relative or friend.
We talked to gerontology nurses and gerontologists to get the lowdown on what’s smart, what’s dignified, and what’s best avoided. Far more important than all the high-tech is the simple act of talking about it to make sure any high-tech monitoring is seen not as an invasion of privacy but rather a means of allowing a person to more safely live alone.
“Sometimes in our eagerness for safety, that whole aspect of a person’s autonomy – and dignity – is being trampled,” says nursing professor Margaret Bull, who specializes in elder care issues at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
“As much as possible, match what’s in that person’s comfort zone,” advises Dena Schulman-Green, a gerontologist at Yale University’s College of Nursing, who often opts for low-tech elder care solutions but certainly not always. “Some older adults are very into technology, and using such devices makes them feel part of the modern world and less of a burden to their kids.”
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If you or someone you know needs help with home healthcare in Houston, contact At Your Side Home Care. We provide quality and affordable elder care for many disabled and elderly loved ones in our community. Call us at 832-271-1600 for more information.
Our Certified Nurse Aides, 24-Hour Live-in Assistants and Home Health Aides are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We also provide the security and confidence of 24-hour Telephone Assistance, so fast, reliable help is always available when it's needed. To learn more about our homecare services see our homecare services page.
Different people need different levels of homecare. To meet the requirements of our clients, At Your Side Homecare maintains consistent staffing levels of caring professionals. Homecare service is available for as little as a few hours a week, or as many as 24 hours a day, seven days a week
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