For many years, technology has been worn by a variety of people for many reasons. One of those reasons has been to track physical exercise for athletes. Wearing tracking devices, runners have been able to determine how far they have traveled, how many steps they took, calories burned, and other information. Now technology that can be worn may prove to be effective for home health care.
These ‘bracelets’ or anklets can detect a number of biometric readings, such as pulse rate, calories burned, and much more. These technological devices have been around for a long time and technology itself (especially with regard to computer technology) has been improving all that time. It seems that it’s only a matter of time before these types of devices begin to provide valuable resources to doctors and other medical professionals to help track patients when they are at home.
Many doctors rely on their patients to gather accurate information about them when they are at home. They also regularly rely on visiting nurses and other home health care providers to report back to them about what the patient is eating, doing as far as exercise, and how they are feeling on a regular basis. The more accurate that the information they receive is, the better able they will be to devise proper treatment for the patient moving forward.
The goal is ultimately to improve the level of care that patients receive. For elderly patients, a major hurdle to getting accurate information is that they might not understand how to provide the best information, may be inclined to avoid certain activities if they aren’t sure they should or can be doing them, or they may forget to track these things.
If the patient is supposed to be tracking how often they get up and move around, what their heart rate or blood pressure is on a daily basis, or the foods that they consume, it can be a lot to focus on and remember. This type of technology could allow doctors more accuracy in information that could allow them to improve the quality of care for all of their patient. At least that’s what Dr. Bob Duggan, a foot and ankle surgeon, believes.
He says wearable technology will do that.
“It’s not too much of a stretch to expect someone with a watch coming in and saying, ‘Oh, I want to give you my blood pressure measurements from the last month’ and they download it as they sign in for an appointment,” he said (Click2Houston).”