The Wall Street Journal, 11/29/2007 (page D1)
When John Fowlkes's adult daughter suggested installing an electronic monitoring system in his apartment to oversee his well-being from afar, "I was very skeptical," he says. To Mr. Fowlkes, 86, who has an active social life including an 80-year-old girlfriend, the idea evoked thoughts of Big Brother.
Rest of article here. And here's the video that accompanied the article.
Adults are not the only ones shouldering the responsibilities of caregiving in the
One-third of the young caregivers help with medications, and nearly two-thirds help someone with the day-to-day activities of living, such as getting dressed, eating and going to the bathroom. There are just as many boys as girls providing assistance.
Support groups for these children—many of whom say their roles as caregivers both enrich and stress their lives—has been practically nonexistent. However, Nurse Connie Siskowski, director of a new advocacy group called the American Association of Caregiving Youth, wants to change that. In a report by National Public Radio, she discusses how, as a child, she cared for her grandfather, sometimes giving him medication. She says for many years she even felt partly responsible for his death. With this experience behind her, she says she understands firsthand the importance of providing support to young caregivers. To read more, please go here.
There are an estimated 34 million Americans assisting in the care of an older family member or friend, and an additional 10.6 million helping someone between the ages of 18 and 49, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving. Many of these elderly and/or disabled individuals long to live independently in their own homes, but they are held back by problems of Connectivity, Capacity and Capital.
CMI's SimplyHome system of assistive technology addresses all of these issues. It CONNECTS caregivers to loved ones via web, email, text messaging and two-way voice. Because the technology makes possible connectivity to several caregivers at once, the CAPACITY problem is also resolved.
For an elderly parent, for example, you can share the responsibility of responding to SimplyHome “alerts” with one or more family members, professional caregiver(s), and/or SimplyHome’s 24/7 Central Station. Before responding in person to an indication of trouble, you can use an optional video cam to do a Live Look-In, or see a short video clip of when your care recipient was last active.
Professional caregivers find they can support twice as many residents with the SimplyHome system as without it.
Finally, CMI makes this equipment highly affordable (the CAPITAL issue) as a low-cost monthly rental. You can add or subtract components of the system at any time. If an elderly parent begins to wander due to dementia, you can easily add a small people-tracking device.
Everything CMI offers is easy to install (no holes to drill), and 24/7 technical support is provided. CMI also sells power tools for busy caregivers. For more information, call 828/684-8441, email info@simplyhome-cmi.com or go to www.simplyhome-cmi.com.
