Singapore’s Sata CommHealth recently launched a pilot project monitoring elderly health via technology. The devices – which are Bluetooth-enabled – collects health-related data like blood glucose level, pulse rate and blood pressure in seniors in their homes on a daily basis. Monitored by Sata CommHealth (a voluntary welfare organization for community healthcare) the device will be able to pick up on problems people using it encounter related to diabetes or hypertension over a six-month period.
Meanwhile over in Thailand, the Japanese company Advanced Information Valuable Service (AIVS) in conjunction with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently tried out its Mimamori monitoring system. In place at the Sawangkanives Home for Elderly (run by the Thai Red Cross) as well as the Banphaeo Hospital, AIVS President Shuinchi Yoshitake has recognized a need for this, given the increasingly elderly population in Thailand, similar to Japan.
Using sensor technology for detection of vitals, the panel sensors then wirelessly send the information to a Mimamori sensor box in the patient’s room and a Mimamori station in a control room. The patient is able to be in contact with healthcare providers through real-time data which is sent to the control room even when asleep. The system detects “all patient movements [including] convulsions.”
And then there is Telemedicine, which allegedly takes all these recent advances “one step further… allowing users to not only monitor their health and fitness on their smartphones, but to access professional medical insights on them too.” Featuring Wi-Fi, video collaboration technology and reliable broadband, patients can now access real-time virtual physical exams 24/7!
Even more encouraging is the fact that a recent Aeris survey revealed that 84% of health care professionals “believe that technological innovations have finally evolved far enough to produce telemedicine devices that deliver similar outcomes for patients who receive treatment instructions virtually and those treated in-person.”
Technology is changing our lives for sure and benefiting the elderly at the same time.