Technology is increasingly being integrated into nursing homes, from sensors that monitor movement to artificial intelligence designed to identify patterns that signal a resident is at risk. But cutting-edge technology doesn’t necessarily equal better care. For adult children comparing nursing homes, asking some of these questions can help establish what the technology offered truly means for their loved ones.
How do you use technology to spot changes in residents’ health? Sabina Schneider, CTO of health care and life sciences at Globant, advises that families should ask about technologies that enable real-time resident monitoring and predictive analytics. She said: “For example, can the nursing home use data to identify a heightened risk of falling or recognize changes in a resident’s normal behavior, such as waking and walking alone at unusual times?” “Families should be asking: How accurate are the alerts?
How many are false positives? And what action is taken when the system detects a real risk,” said Schneider. Also, how quickly someone checks on the resident and how urgent or unanswered alerts are escalated.
How do electronic health records communicate with other health care providers? Ciolek advises that sharing information between nursing homes, hospitals and doctors’ offices is a critical part of the equation. How does technology support quality of life?
Technology need not be cutting-edge. Reliable Wi-Fi, video calling, captioning, voice-controlled devices and personalized entertainment can support connection and independence. How does technology support communication between families and care providers?
Having a direct line to each other to resolve conflict and monitor resident behaviors can lead to more rapid responses on both ends. Does technology give staff more time with residents? Technology can reduce tasks such as documentation and improve communication.
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