With Covid-19 changing every way the world works, it makes sense that we also change the way we care for older adults members of our society. In fact, 80% of covid-related deaths in the US are older adults. But even as we end the current pandemic with a new vaccine, this still leaves us with a deep lesson: we should prepare for future pandemics, be it in the now or in the future. And for this, remote care monitoring will be a vital feature.
For highly contagious diseases like the coronavirus, decreasing the time of exposure between clients, caregivers and other healthcare personnel is of top priority. This is where remote care monitoring comes in. With this technology, you can always be sure that every client can receive proper care no matter where they are, or how often you or your staff can visit them.
How remote care monitoring keeps everyone safe
One of the reasons why agencies might want remote care monitoring for their clients and caregivers, is because older adults are the population with the highest fatality risk in outbreaks of any illness. From cholera to tuberculosis, older adults are always among the most vulnerable age groups; they are second only to infants and children by a small margin. Many, however, do not die from the disease itself. They die from other complications which have been worsened by the disease. Older adults have a weaker immune system, they are more likely to suffer from multiple chronic diseases and an overall compromised health. For these reasons, reducing the number of people coming in and out of their home, is critical to keeping them safe.
Until everyone is vaccinated, social distancing is key to prevention, so even when visiting clients, one has to wear a mask and be 6 feet away. This isn’t a good way to have a conversation with someone who is hard of hearing, like 25% of older adults are, and replacing visits with phone calls doesn’t provide the full picture.
Remote care monitoring helps by allowing you to use technology to continuously assess the quality of care, without being present, and without being constantly on the phone with your caregivers and clients. Even if you have clients who receive 24/7 care, Sensi’s intuitive dashboard will present to you any unusual events that occurred during the shift. You can check on all your clients within a few minutes, every day.
However, this will not remove the need for all forms of visitations. Intake meetings, having your team meet the client and talk to their family, to tailor the right care plan for them, and match them with your one of your excellent caregivers, still need to happen. But after that client is set up with Sensi, our system will do the monitoring for you, and you can reduce the exposure every client has to other people during an outbreak, and limit those visiting them to caregivers and family.
Remote care monitoring after the pandemic
Most monitoring systems can only be set up during “non-emergency” times, since they require a technician to arrive at the home and do the installation. Sensi’s system, however, can be set-up remotely, and seamlessly integrate with existing hardware in the client’s home. After set up, the system automatically starts monitoring the environment, analyzing the data, and letting you know if there’s anything you need to pay attention to.
Seeing things through a human resource perspective, home care staff are employees who succumb to the limitations of the physical world. No one can be in two places at once. Furthermore, depending on the agency’s geographical distribution, a single staff member may need to cover plenty of ground before reaching the next client. Remote care monitoring reduces the need to move around too much when most tasks can be done by an automatic system. A remote staff member can check a client and caregiver’s stats based on data sent from the devices in the client’s home.
Sensi.Ai can help
Sensi.Ai can give you all the help you need to achieve this new standard of care in your agency. Remote care monitoring is the future of home care. As the demand for services increases, and the industry grows, having Sensi.Ai on your side will give you the competitive edge you need to continue providing your clients with best-in-class home care services.
