During uncertain times, people in need of health care may prefer to receive it at home. Aside from offering a wide range of benefits, home health care professionals can keep patients in close proximity with their loved ones.
Home health care is often the effective, convenient and less expensive choice. And, technology advancements are making it easier for people to consider home health care as a suitable alternative. For example, active home telemonitoring devices can capture blood pressure, weight and other vitals on a daily basis. They can also generate alerts and reminders that aid with the location of lost objects or dispense medications. Passive telemonitoring technologies include bed sensors that capture restlessness, sleep interruptions, or pulse and respiration during sleep. These features operate in the background to detect trigger warnings, alerts and other crucial reminders.
Alarm systems can detect fires or floods, while passive systems can use motion and heat sensors, distinguishing between heat that occurs during meal preparation and heat that builds up when a person forgets to turn off the stove. These systems allow the remote monitoring of residential spaces and visitors while also capturing the level of activity and detecting unusual patterns of activity.
This is especially useful for older adults, to help them retain independence while maintaining their current level of health. Personal care and support at home can help older adults age in place – as almost all prefer, surveys repeatedly show – and prevent or delay institutionalization, according to an article in The New York Times.
In a 2016 study, The Future of Home Health Care, Dartmouth Atlas researchers found that more than 80 percent of elderly patients said that they “wish to avoid hospitalization and intensive care during the terminal phase of life.” Health care is ever-changing, and with home health care, it’s become easier than ever.
Books to De-Stress
Hunker down in the cold weather with these reads
The Centers of Disease and Control Prevention reports that older adults are at a greater risk of developing depression, but are often misdiagnosed or under treated for it. With quarantine keeping older adults indoors, more so in the winter, it’s important to learn simple ways to boost and take care of mental health.
Reading, for example, has been shown to put our brains into a state similar to meditation and brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation.
The Return | Nicholas Sparks
The Meaning of Mariah Carey | Mariah Carey and Michaela Angela Davis
The Book of Two Ways | Jodi Picoult
The Evening and the Morning | Ken Follett
One By One | Ruth Ware
Is This Anything? | Jerry Seinfeld
An American Marriage | Tayari Jones
Mallory Arnold is an editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
