According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 7% of non-institutionalized seniors need assistance with personal care. For this reason, many people are now tasked with caring for their elderly parents and relatives at home. Elderly home care comes with a host of gains. It offers personalized care without compromising the comfort of the older person. What’s more? There are various digital devices that you can use to ease the process. Digital care management helps in keeping consistent care records and improves efficiency.
What is digital healthcare?
Digital health involves the use of technology to counter or treat infections. It also helps monitor patients on long-term care. The technology used focuses on prevention rather than treatment. Various devices can help track heart rate, and blood sugar and alert you in case of need to visit the doctor. Digital care is an excellent way of reducing healthcare costs and helps in capturing useful health information.
What are the benefits of digitized care for older people?
1. Disease tracking
The elderly are susceptible to various chronic infections; these include diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, and many more. With the advent of medical wearables, health providers can now track and understand disease progression. Physicians can now monitor the disease trend and effects on a patient. They can use the devices to tailor the most suitable treatment plan and predict longevity, thanks to technology.
2. Reduced patient-caregiver burden
Digitalized care gives health professionals various insights. It helps reduce patient-caregiver burden and frequent hospital visits to health facilities. Digitalized care also allows healthcare providers to see more patients in a day, and lowers the overall cost of care. Digital healthcare also self-care, making patients better placed to manage their health. For instance, wearables and other remote monitoring devices can accomplish various tasks that can promote your health.
3. Enhanced communication
Digitalized care for seniors advances communication between patients and caregivers. It allows older persons to book appointments online and text style messages to request medication refills. There are also digital pill dispensers; they are connected devices that can hold a supply of up to 90days.
The technology notifies the patient and the doctor via mail or text in case of need for refills. The digital health device also supports caregivers to remind patients on time to take their medications.
4. Real-time health information & Data monitoring
Smartphones and wearables are popular nowadays and can accomplish several tasks. Some modern smartwatches can count your steps, monitor your heart rate, or take an ECG. They are useful to both the elderly and doctors alike. If you wear a smartwatch that conveys your health information online, it advances your health in numerous ways.
Your doctor can set triggers to monitor your progress, which can inhibit various unfortunate things. For instance, they can set a trigger to indicate when your blood pressure or heart rate goes past a certain level. This way, they act fast and avoid any eventualities.
5. Improved data security
Medical records can easily get lost to natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, or negligence. With a digital data storage system, medical data is more secure and can be retrieved with ease. An older person doesn’t have to wait for long to have their record available. Although digital data is also at risk of malicious attacks, there are measures to ensure that the security of your health information isn’t compromised.
Conclusion
There are various technological advancements, and health care can now take advantage of digitization. The digitization of elderly care comes with numerous perks. It can significantly decrease the caregiver-patient burden, improve communication, intensify the availability of health information, and improve the older person’s overall health.