‘Rotting In Place’

March 11, 2015 | by | 2 Comments

Laura Mitchell, who was one of the key people behind GrandCare Systems and now is a marketing consultant and healthy aging advocate, has written an interesting article on LinkedIn Pulse, now on her website, springing off an AgingInPlaceTech article by Laurie Orlov.  Like the latter’s article, it commented on the Washington Post profile of Prof. Stephen Golant, whose POV on ‘aging in place’ was mostly that AIP is oversold–that in many cases, it’s ‘rotting in place in their own homes’. It’s a highly provocative topic with equally provocative statements and Ms Mitchell does take him to the woodshed, as does Ms Orlov in a different way. Prof. Galant seems to take a more moderate tone in his book (publicity perhaps?), citing (in the Amazon summary) that “older people often must settle for the least imperfect places to live. They are offered solutions that are poorly implemented or do not respond to the totality of their unmet needs.” a statement with which this Editor finds it difficult to disagree.

This Editor will largely cite her previous LinkedIn comment with a few embellishments/edits: (more…)

Tech, approaches for caregiving at a distance falling behind

February 17, 2015 | by | 1 Comment
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/8001846820_6d2df50ffa_z.jpg” thumb_width=”175″ /]There’s plenty of telehealth systems and apps that remind older adults of their meds, appointments and take their vital signs–but where are the ones that take care of the reality of ‘aging in place’: the loneliness of the man or woman who lives alone, how that person can communicate with family with their own lives 50 or 2,000 miles away, how family members can better oversee or coordinate her care? The problem hasn’t changed when first addressed over a decade ago by the earliest telecare systems. The technology, while more abundant, is largely uncoordinated, putting the burden on the caregiver. Laurie Orlov points out that ‘finding care is not the problem’ but that the care is at extremes: either too light (daily non-medical assistance) or a move to assisted living housing (average move-in now 80+). No company has truly organized a larger solution (more…)