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Dealing with an age-old and ageing problem

Governments say ageing people should stay at home as long as possible rather than be consigned to an institution of one sort or another. Then again, there are critical shortages of facilities to accomodate an ageing population. What to do? Enter technology! It may just provide an answer....

"Connie Araps, 57, of Delray Beach, Fla., thought that her father, Tom Araps, 87, was managing just fine on his own. But when he came to stay with her for a few months in 2005, she found that he was skipping meals, sleeping all morning and not taking daily walks.

To satisfy her father’s desire to live alone, but to ease her mind about his safety, Ms. Araps found an apartment for him less than a mile from her home and had it equipped with QuietCare, a home health alarm system provided by ADT Security Services.

She drops by his apartment often, and logs into a Web site several times a day to check on him. Motion sensors track how often Mr. Araps opens the refrigerator, when he gets out of bed and how long he stays in the bathroom. If his normal patterns vary, the alarm company alerts her".

Read this rather interesting article, in full, in the New York Times.

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