Surveillance technology helps old people stay in their homes
A growing group of aging Americans have started installing surveillance technology into their homes that has the purpose to check them up so they can continue to live independently, and not in old people’s homes.
Julie Davis, chief content officer for the online senior care resource ParentGiving, says that a lot of people have a problem to doing that because they feel watched all the time, like being on Big Brother. But the reluctance can be got over if people have the appropriate conversation over it and if they are explained that this is a small compromise so that they can get what they want, which is staying in their home and not moving to a facility where someone would watch them all the time. Carol Brewer, aged 74, installed such a video camera into her living room and says that at first she wondered when passing in front of the camera if she was appropriately dressed. But she got used to it and now believes that it is useful for allowing her and her 78 year old husband Ross who is paralyzed from the waist down live in their Lafayette home.
During the past two years, the surveillance camera allowed “telecaregivers” to warn them about some emergency situations that might have appeared if not prevented. Carol Brewer is also provided with an emergency button fixed to a chain around her neck that enable her to get immediately in contact with a caregiver on the phone and she even gets a phone call alert if she forgets to lock the door. 90 percent of the old people say they want to live and ultimately die in their homes, but the life expectancy has grown over the years, so this is not possible without help. An assisted-living facility can cost up to 80,000 dollars a year and a personal home caregivers can be expensive too. Compared to that, telemonitoring services can range from 100 dollars to 1,000 dollars a month. The company monitoring Carol is ResCare from Louisville, Kentucky and it provides residential care services to the elderly and people with disabilities. The Rest Assured program developed with the Purdue University School of Technology allows the company to remotely monitor about 300 clients from all over the United States.
Dustin Wright, the general manager for Rest Assured says that the company makes sure exactly what type of service is needed and then follow the instructions received from the customers. Then they install sensors around the home and one to two video cameras together with special sensors that can monitor motion, pressure, temperature and other kinds of information. Sometimes 24-hour active monitoring via video camera is requested, but in some cases there are needed only glimpses to make sure the clients are taking their medication or haven’t encountered any problems. Some clients do not need daily telecaregiving services at all, and only want an emergency watch program which is supposed to detect danger or any unusual event. Carol and Ross Brewer’s son, Jeff Brewer, says that he installed the system to allow him check on them from anywhere in the world. He usually does not turn on the camera, except from the times when Carol decides to leave home for a couple of hours and he has to check on his father, who uses a wheelchair.
