Senior Care Technology Review: Robots, Wander Prevention and Well-Being
Written by Elizabeth Ecker

The senior care industry touted its use of technology in past weeks with new gadgets to address important needs of residents in assisted living, continuing- and long-term-care facilities. Here are a few of their favorite things.

1. GeckoSystems: Mobile Robots and Collision-Free Cars

GeckoSystems is teaming up with a Japanese mobile robot solutions company, ZMP, to collaborate on a Mobile Service Robot, Collision Free Wheelchair and Collision Free Car—all with a focus on seniors and disabled individuals.

2. IBM: Avatars Help to Learn about Senior Living

IBM (NYSE: IBM) Canada today announced its software is being used to correlate data from sensors capturing patient activity and replicate it in a virtual world with avatars that represent the elderly subjects in a unique pilot aimed at providing health researchers and students with insights on how to care for Canada’s aging population. The data will be used to understand how to make better use of healthcare resources, enable remote collaboration among providers, and contribute to early intervention and long-term management of chronic diseases.  Researchers will also learn how to prepare older people for independent living, and extend the length of time seniors are able to live in their homes.

3. Wandertrack: Wander Prevention

Silent Partner Technologies has added a new, outdoor loop tracking feature that allows monitoring of residents outside of an assisted facility’s walls. The outdoor wireless and invisible perimeter security fence allows assisted living facilities to monitor residents outside via an underground antenna. When a resident passes through designated access points, an alarm and email is initiated to inform operators.

4. FrontPorch Uses Broadband Tech to Improve Senior Health and Wellness

The Model eHealthCommunity for Aging (MeHCA) project will use broadband-enabled technology to support health and wellness needs and improve access to care for underserved and low-income older adults at affordable housing communities, community health clinics and other institutions in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood. The project will use broadband-enabled technology including video conferencing, health kiosks with peripherals, Wi-Fi, a mobile computer lab, the Dakim Brain Fitness program, L.A. County Safety Net eConsult Program and electronic health records (EHR), to empower a community of providers to and create a coordinated and comprehensive ecosystem of health/wellness resources.

Source, seniorhousingnews.com

The caregivers at Andelcare are available to talk with you and your family about all of your live-in home care needs. Andelcare is a home care agency providing quality, affordable senior care in Seattle and the surrounding areas. Call 888-788-3051 for more information.

What If There Was a Cure?
The Benefits of Coconut Oil for Patients of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s), Autism and other Diseases
By Mary T. Newport, MD,

Senior Care Seattle: My husband Steve, now 61-years-old, has early onset Alzheimer’s disease. In May 2008, while he was screening for clinical trials, I came across information about a potential treatment in development: AC-1202, now called Axona.

As I learned about the potential treatment, I learned that consuming medium chain triglycerides (derived from coconut oil) resulted in improved cognition in about half of the persons with Alzheimer’s or Mild Cognitive Impairment in their studies.

So, I gave my husband Steve some coconut oil. He had a dramatic response with a remarkable improvement in clock drawing and in his memory testing. Two months later, Steve continued to improve and other people confirmed that it was not my imagination.

Steve ’s dramatic improvement began on the very day he started taking coconut oil. This was consistent with results of the first Axona study in which nearly half of the people had improved memory scores after taking just one dose of Axona.

Since we had changed nothing else in the months prior to or immediately after starting coconut oil, it ’s reasonable that it was the cause for his improvement.

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For information about how Andelcare can help your family with senior care in Seattle, call our caregivers today, 888-788-3051. We are a home care agency providing care and assistance to our seniors, veterans and the disabled in our community.

Many Alzheimer’s Cases Go Unrecognized: Report
Staywell Custom Communications

(HealthDay News) — Diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s disease early is essential if patients are to benefit from the medications currently used for this dementia, a new report stresses.

However, most people with the condition are diagnosed late in the progression of the disease, which results in a “treatment gap” that limits access to information, treatment, care and support, according to the report released Tuesday by Alzheimer’s Disease International. All this compounds the problems for patients, families, senior care caregivers, communities and health professionals.

“The most important thing about this report is that it confirms the importance of early diagnosis and that interventions are possible because of it for Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” said Robert J. Egge, vice president for public policy and advocacy at the Alzheimer’s Association.

In the United States, Alzheimer’s and other dementia are a “crisis,” he said. “Part of what makes it a crisis is that it is so under-recognized. One of the places it is not recognized is in the doctor’s office.”

Many patients go undiagnosed, which means even the limited treatments available aren’t started soon enough, he said. Doctors need to be aware of dementia and how to diagnose it early, Egge added.

But there is a worldwide lack of awareness, he noted.

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At Andelcare, we recognize that there are many reasons why a loved one may need senior care. From seniors with Alzheimer’s Disease, to patients with disabilities, we are here to provide quality and affordable senior care in Seattle and the surrounding communities. Call us for information 888-788-3051!