June -- it was the worst of times. Who can comprehend that 43% of Covid-19 deaths are linked to nursing homes? Who could have imagined the economic impact of job loss and (almost all) business shutdown? Who could have speculated that senior living organizations would have occupancy levels nationwide below 88%? Who would have thought that telehealth definitions would include phone calls and Facetime? Most importantly, as so many families were reminded, their aging relatives had not adopted any of the devices and software that would enable face-to-face communication. Or that high speed internet would not be available in nursing homes or the dementia care units in assisted living where their relatives now lived. Let’s hope July is better! Here are the five blog posts from June 2020:
Will results change when older adults are surveyed later this year? So we know that ‘remote care’ and ‘caring’ in its various forms, including telehealth, seem to be heating up as a priority, whether for senior living organizations, families, healthcare provider organizations, and putting more emphasis on the need for home healthcare and home care, especially in times in which the care workers hesitate to enter a home and which families are locked down and not visiting. Here is where we were on technology adoption at the start of the pandemic, and the wave of telehealth interest heated up. As one tech company told me, a one-year-pipeline compressed into a month of demand. And a plethora of companies raised their hands to offer their engagement technology for free. So if this is the baseline of adoption, what’s next when the surveys come around again?
ORANGE, Calif., June 3, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- GrandPad, creator of the first purpose-built tablet for people over 75, announced today the addition of connected device capabilities to its mobile device and telehealth platform to support virtual care and remote monitoring for healthcare providers. The expanded capabilities come at a time when an increasing number of home health agencies and other healthcare companies are turning to GrandPad to facilitate video visits during COVID-19 restrictions that prohibit in-person care.
Technology usage has climbed sharply during Covid-19. Pew Research notes 53% of responders in April consider the Internet as ‘Essential’– although, no surprise, the oldest did not. And Nielsen observed that the pandemic was a catalyst for the rise of tech use for working at home and shopping, among other uses. In addition, telehealth usage has skyrocketed, with virtual doctor visits expected by Forrester Research to top 1 billion by years end. The spike has been attributed to a) the declaration of a state of emergency in March; b) introduction of Medicare/Medicaid coverage matching in-person visits; and c) encouragement from hospitals and medical practitioners.
Companies continue to invent and introduce technology. In the face of the devastation and economic collapse precipitated by the pandemic, many tech firms soldier on, finding opportunity, re-spinning products, and announcing new capability. It is encouraging to see this sheer quantity of free offerings, accelerated interest in telehealth, and other innovations in smart homes, healthcare and robotics that have emerged in the past few months of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are just five focused on older adults: