Wednesday, November 30, 2005
The technology should reduce emergency room visits among senior citizens.
SEBRING -- New technology will enable nurses to monitor blood pressure and blood sugar readings of senior citizens from their homes or retirement centers.
The tri-county area's new Tele Health program should begin in January, Mahoning County commissioners announced Tuesday with Karen Ambrose, director of Senior Independence of the Mahoning Valley, which provides health care and home care services to seniors in the tri-county area.
SBC Communications contributed $20,000 to the project, with additional funding coming from The Watson Foundation, Ambrose said.
How machines work
Tele Health will begin with 10 video units and 10 non-video units. The video units will be placed in people's homes and are "very user friendly," Ambrose said. The machines can be used to measure blood pressure, blood sugar, blood clotting times and heartbeat, among other things. The units will allow a nurse who works in Youngstown to see and talk to patients in their homes, assess their readings and decide if that person needs to see a doctor, Ambrose said.
The nonvideo units will be installed in apartment buildings or senior centers similar to Copeland Oaks Senior Living Community, where county commissioners held their regular weekly meeting Tuesday. Users will carry "smart cards," which are similar to credit cards, and will use those machines similarly to the home units.
Tele Health encourages seniors to be more proactive about their health and may reduce the number of emergency room visits and hospital admissions among senior citizens by 50 percent, Ambrose said. Similar programs in Cincinnati and Columbus have resulted in 100 percent reductions in emergency room trips, she added.