Assisted living is a godsend for the elderly, many of whom have lost the ability to function on their own. An assisted living facility helps to take a good amount of the strain off of the rigors of living alone, particularly if the elderly person also has a disability. This type of care has come a long way from its earliest iterations, mainly due to the modern advancements in technology, education and methods of addressing the needs of the elderly. Here are some examples of modern advancements in assisted living and how they’re driving growth.
New Technology for Self-Administered Medications
For many elderly people, a sense of independence is vital to the preservation of their long-term mental health – even if they are in a nursing home. These days, technology is such that the elderly can manage, monitor and then administer their own medication schedule. For instance, there are tools like alarm medication watches or reminders, which exist to alert the residents to take their medications at a predetermined dosing schedule. Similarly, there are also multi-alarm pill boxes, which store medication in the proper manner and also remind the residents to take their medications at the appropriate time, courtesy of reminder alerts.
New Technology for Delivered Medications
At the same time, not all of the residents in an assisted living facility are capable or willing to be accountable for their own medication regime. Additionally, some of the ailments and medical conditions that develop with age are somewhat complicated and, therefore, require very responsible and close attention to the medical dosing schedule. One of the best new technologies for this is e-Mar, which is an electronic medical administration record. It is known to streamline and computerize the required collaboration amongst all of the entities involved in medication management. E-Mar facilitates improved dialogue among doctors, caregivers, pharmacists and anyone else involved in the care process.
Residences Are More Comfortable Than Ever
Assisted living housing these days is not something of days gone by, where the living quarters were unfriendly, cold and evident of little thought and consideration. Today, rooms and living spaces at these facilities are very much like that of the average home, which should be a great comfort to both residents and their families. As a bonus, a lot of these care facilities have liberal rules about the addition of the residents’ personal artifacts and decorations in the living spaces. This is naturally a great comfort to the residents because they can personalize their environment, and make it feel less like a care facility and more like a home.
The concept of assisted living has undergone a significant change since its early days. Today, these care facilities are very much committed to doing everything they can to make the lives of their elderly residents as comfortable as humanly possible. This includes taking steps to implement the latest medical technologies, whether those are for self-administered medications or delivered medications. Many care facilities are also warmer than ever, making effort to create a “real home” environment.
