Using Healthcare Technology for Your Aging in Place Loved Ones

The preponderance of healthcare technology in the home is growing by leaps and bounds, and especially those items made for the parents of baby boomers. With the start of boomers turning 65 on the first of this year, there is a growing aging population that knows about this technology and welcomes it for their parents who are aging in place. The older generation, the parents, however, may not be as likely to choose it, as they may feel that web and cell-based information invades their privacy or limits their independence. Other barriers to choosing technology in the home may be that the expense is cost-prohibitive.

Some of the home-based health technologies available today include complete wireless systems that will monitor the movement of an individual, provide fall detection and a panic button, and report medical issues such as temperature and blood pressure. Other devices monitor just one or two of the above separately. In addition, pill-taking reminders, symptom and patient record systems, video phones and caregiving assistance tools can be found from numerous manufacturers.

A study regarding healthcare technologies by the National Alliance for Caregiving and UnitedHealthcare was recently released at the annual Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas this year. It showed that in a study of 1,000 family caregivers, two thirds welcome new devices that can help them with their duties. These people had all used some form of technology to help them out and provide at least five hours of unpaid service per week. The ages of the respondents was split by 47% over 50 and 53% under 50.

Here are the top three devices that 70% or more of those surveyed said would be most helpful:
- Personal Health Record Tracking - A computerized, web or cell-based system that tracks the health condition of the care recipient, including medications, current readings such as temperature and blood pressure, and manages test results and patient history.
- Caregiving Coordination System - An automated record that lets family members coordinate physician appointments and work together to organize caregiving assignments for the recipient.
- Medication Support Systems - A device that notifies the care recipient when it is time to take prescriptions and supplements and dispenses them into a handy container. The system-supported device can also notify caregivers when a dose has not been taken.

Baby boomers realize the benefits of health technologies, especially when they are not in the same city or cannot get to the care recipient on a regular basis. The survey respondents said that the advantages of the systems include saving time, making caregiving easier logistically, making the recipient feel safer, feeling more effective as a caregiver and reducing caregiving stress. While some of the elderly parents may be resistant to the health technology, over time, baby boomers will be looking to these solutions for themselves, and realize the benefits over the barriers.

Get a PhD in Library Science

The scope of study for a student does not end with a bachelor's degree program. Avid learners with passion to develop a more solid standpoint in his or her belief regarding a topic of interest could do so by attaining a doctoral degree.

The PhD in Library Science is a good supplement to those who are already interested in this field. Better known as LIS, there are several areas of concentrations which can be applied to the research topic availability.

First, the student must decide on whether to opt for Information and Society, which is an area that widely focuses on the functions of LIS towards the community in its entirety. The subfields which are heavily focused in this area of specialization are ethics, epistemology and other pertinent theoretical problems involving information. The students also probe into human behavior, attitude based on gender and sexual identity.

The approach to this field is the study of everyday life where information is collected and recorded. Not only that, cultural and political influences are investigated as well in order to further comprehend the intricacy involving human behavior.

The other areas where an LIS doctoral student would want to specialize in are the Information Organization and Technologies. In this specialization the student is able to pay more attention to the computer-related LIS pedagogy and other areas involving the advancement of Information Technology such as "Webometrics" and "Informetrics".

This is important in understanding the use of technology in safe-keeping information in an institution which handles records of thousands of clients. Other subfields such as classification of information and information taxonomic system are narrowed down in order to create a more systematic approach in sorting out massive data.

These clusters vary from the doctoral supervisors at hand but the faculty will have a format of dissertation and other doctoral supervisory levels in PhD in Library Science.