This USA Weekend article had a sentence that points to why we're seeing a plethora of "helping the disabled and elderly live independently" products and services, including many that electronically link family caregivers to their charge, like our own SimplyHome offering:

According to a 2004 study conducted by MetLife and the National Alliance for Caregiving, more than 34 million Americans provide support to an aging family member -- and about 5 million of them do so from a distance.

The article goes on to say:

When it comes to looking after your parents, you always have to be on the ball.

The SimplyHome offering helps you stay in constant touch with those you're helping, via email, cell phone text messaging and the web/PDAs. It makes distances far less relevant, because sensors in the residence report to you and your fellow caregivers with immediacy, and based on rules you set that are broken-- like a door open at night, or the absence of activity in the morning when the resident should be "up and about." SimplyHome helps you be on the ball.