Category Archives: Carers
How Smart Tech Will Take Care of Grandma
Motion sensors watch an elderly man’s movement around his home
By Kiona Smith-Strickland
Lena Almquist, a Giraff robot and Malin Nilsson at the 4th Annual Elderly Festival in Örebro Sweden.
Giraffplus
February 4, 2014 12:30 PM
Motion sensors watch an elderly man’s movement around his home, looking for stumbles or extended stillness that could mean a fall or a medical emergency. Smart appliances look for changes in a woman’s routine and alert caregivers to possible distress. An automated home-safety assistant offers an Alzheimer’s patient a gentle reminder to turn off the stove before he walks away.
The great hope for senior care is that smart technology will provide an assist that helps older people live independently and stay in their homes rather than have to move to an assisted living center or nursing home. The question is, what shape will that assistance take? Out-of-the-way, non-intrusive sensors? Or actual robots, like the happy little helper in Robot & Frank? Some tech companies have already begun to design systems of both kinds.
Smart Home in a Box?
At Washington State University (WSU), computer science professor Diane Cook and psychology professor Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe have developed what they call a smart home in a box. Wall-mounted sensors monitor a person’s movement around the home, while other sensors track the status of water faucets, stovetops, and other appliances. An automated system can speak up and remind the resident to turn off the stove or alert him or her to other home safety concerns.
Women in their late 60s are the group most likely to be admitted to hospital for anxiety problems
Women in their late 60s are the group most likely to be admitted to hospital for anxiety problems, new figures have revealed.
More than six out of 10 hospital admissions for anxiety were among women, but 28 per cent of the total admissions across both sexes were for women aged 60 and over.
A report from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) also shows that women aged between 65 and 69 were the most affected, whereas men aged 45 to 49 were most likely to need hospital treatment for their anxiety.
Mental health patients ‘failed’ says report on Hellesdon Hospital
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report said improvements were needed
A Norfolk hospital which looks after people with mental health problems is failing to meet expected levels of care, according to a report.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on Hellesdon Hospital said improvements were needed.
It said patients’ needs were “not always assessed in a timely way” and many care plans were out of date.
The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said it was addressing concerns.
The CQC also found that risk assessments were often incomplete, and that one patient inspectors talked to did not know he had been detained under the Mental Health Act.
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