Mean old girls: Seniors who bully

Bullying doesn't always end in high school — it also happens in retirement communities

By Diane Mapes
When Nancy Murphy moved into a retirement community near Portland, Ore., she didn't realize she'd actually traveled back in time.
"I came into breakfast one morning and this woman sitting at a nearby table sees me and says, 'Well, would you look at the new girl? She has WET HAIR!'" says Murphy, a 75-year-old retired schoolteacher. "She did this three mornings in a row. Then I found a flyer in my mailbox with a copy of the house dress rules. I know she tucked it in there."
Murphy, who's lived at the facility just under two months, says she ignores the woman's jabs — "I refer to her as Harriet High School" — but others at the nursing home have confided they're afraid of her.

"I had dinner with two gentlemen the other night and they said she terrifies them," she says. "That she's dictatorial, demanding, critical — classic bully behavior."
While much scrutiny and study has been devoted to bullying in grade school and high school these last few years, less attention has been paid to another category of bullies: those with gray hair, false teeth, hearing aids and canes. But according to experts, gray-haired bullies do exist and, as with their younger counterparts, their behavior can run the gamut from verbal intimidation to physical violence.
"It's kind of an institutional thing," says gerontology expert Robin Bonifas, an assistant professor at Arizona State University School of Social Work, who's currently researching senior-to-senior bullying. "It tends to take place in senior centers or nursing homes or assisted living facilities, places where they're spending a lot of time and need to share resources, whether it's chairs or tables or TV stations or staff attention."
Mary Noriega, a 64-year-old from Phoenix, says she has had run-ins with a group of "mean girls" at the senior complex where she and her husband moved a year and a half ago.
"I've endured a lot of bullying," she says. "There's a clique here of probably 20 women and they feel they control the property. I'm their kicking stone."
Story: Mickey Rooney gets order against bullying stepson
Noriega says the women in the group gossip about her ("One piece of gossip that went around was that we'd been evicted from our last apartment," she says); spread lies about her; discourage other residents from befriending her and give her dirty looks whenever she tries to use community facilities, like the rec room.
"No one should have to deal with the harassment I've endured," she says. "The first six months I lived here, I used to sit in my apartment and just cry. I've never dealt with anybody like this before."
These days, Noriega is gathering evidence ("I've got a briefcase crammed full of information about the harassment I've endured") and is turning to outside agencies like the local city council and ASU's School of Social Work in order to get help for her — and other residents — with the bullying problem.
Age-old problem
This kind of problem is nothing new to Gina Kaurich, an executive director at FirstLight HomeCare, who previously worked as a director of nursing at an assisted living facility outside of Dayton, Ohio, for several years.
"There is, in some regard, a caste system among residents," Kaurich says. "There would be an elitist type of table in the dining room where you had people who could eat and drink and carry on conversations very well together. And if an individual who had trouble eating tried to sit with them, they would ignore them or say, 'Why do you always seem to drop your fork?' They'd speak meanly to them. It was like high school."
Kaurich says even fun activities like singing weren't immune from bully behavior.
"In the recreation room, if somebody didn't participate the way somebody else thought they should, you'd see them get into that person's face," she says. "They'd be literally shaking their finger and saying, 'How dare you call out Bingo when you don't have a Bingo!' or 'How dare you sing that hymn that way!' Even if the person was in a wheelchair, they'd be looking down at them, shaking their finger in their face."
Story: Elderly drivers' brains may be distracted by irrelevant data
Doris Lor, a 76-year-old retired secretary, told the Arizona Republicthat when she moved to an age-restricted retirement community in Chandler, Ariz., her new neighbors yelled at her whenever she walked into the recreation center and refused to let her sit at the club's card tables or community pool.
The bullies were part of a "clique … that is meaner than mean," she says.
Estimated 10 to 20 percent of seniors bullied
There's little published research on elderly bullying, but Bonifas estimates about 10 to 20 percent of seniors have experienced some type of senior-to-senior aggression in an institutional setting, much of it verbal abuse.
Both men and women can bully, she says, but women tend towards passive-aggressive behavior like gossiping and whispering about people when they enter a room while men are more "in your face".
"With men, it's more negative comments directly to the person," she says "With women, it's more behind your back."
But it doesn't always stop at back-biting and bickering. Seniors have also been the victims of violence, she says, sometimes over something as trivial as a coveted spot at the dinner table.
"At one facility where I worked, there wasn't assigned seating so residents would tend to claim ownership at certain tables," she says. "And one time, a woman was sitting at a table having a cup of coffee and another resident came in and saw her seated at 'his' table and started yelling at her. She yelled back. And then he hit her — with his fist."
According to Bonifas, incidents like these are all part of a pattern of behavior.
Dementia and violence
"There's kind of a continuum to this aggressive behavior," she says. "Bullying would be on the lower end of the spectrum and at the higher end, you'll have actual incidents of violence between seniors. They could be hitting each other, kicking each other; there have actually been deaths."

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5 Things to Look For in Long-term Care

5 Things to Look For in Long-term Care
by Molly Edmonds
When we're looking for our dream home, we usually have a list of must-have features in mind. Some people can't live without walk-in closets, natural light and built-in bookcases, while others require two-car garages and big backyards. When it comes to long-term care options for ourselves or a loved one, however, we often don't know exactly what we're looking for. And because the decision that an aging adult needs long-term care can already be difficult in and of itself, we may let emotions get in the way of an objective search.
As it turns out, we can consider long-term care facilities with the same critical eye we bring to crown molding or skylights. First, there are some basic decisions to be made regarding the level of care and supervision needed, the financial resources available to pay for the care -- and location, location, location. Once you have a list of places that fit those criteria, how do you pick? Take a look at the five things on this list for some must-have features in long-term care.
5: Your First Impression
Feel free to trust your first impression when you walk into the doors of a long-term care facility. Use all your senses -- does the place smell pleasant, or is there an industrial or unpleasant odor in the air? Is it well-lit and pleasingly decorated? Is there a television blaring, serving as a babysitter for residents, or are there spaces for quiet and for conversation?
As you walk through the facility, you should get a sense that this is a home, not an institution. It's important to see the rooms to determine if the layout, lighting and sense of security are adequate. Privacy is important to many people, so find out if there are single rooms or if sharing will be required. Do residents live in long, anonymous rows of rooms, or are they grouped into small households or living units? Will there be opportunities for residents to make their spaces their own, such as bringing in their own furniture and decoration? What rules regarding noise and visiting are in place?
While people tend to focus on their own rooms, take time to visit common areas as well. You might inquire if there are outside areas where residents congregate, or in which activity rooms residents tend to spend a lot of time. Evaluate these areas for homeyness and cleanliness.
You'll also want to get a sense of the eating facilities -- more information on that can be found on the next page.
4: The Food
When you're touring a nursing home or assisted living facility, you'll likely be provided with a long list of social activities available to residents -- everything from bingo to swim classes. And while a long list of activities is a good way to pick a summer camp, there's no guarantee that the aging adult in question will want to spend a Tuesday afternoon making lanyards. That's why it's more important to focus on the one social engagement on everyone's calendar: meals.
Even if assisted living residents insist on spending all of their free time parked in front of the television, they're usually required to show up for meals. Since meals are often the primary activity of the day, take time to visit the dining areas and have a meal there. Consider whether the food is tasty enough to eat every day, and request a week's worth of menus to see if there's a variety of options.
Two other things to check are how dietary restrictions and preferences, such as keeping kosher, are handled, and whether a resident can get extra food or a snack throughout the day. These last two considerations will give you a clue as to whether the facility sees its residents as numbered mouths to feed or as distinct individuals with their own needs and desires. If the residents are given special attention when it comes to meals, then that standard of care usually carries over into other spheres as well.
3: Staff-to-patient Ratio
Most long-term care facilities strive to maintain residents' independence and autonomy as much as possible. However, that doesn't mean that residents should be deprived of care and help when they need it. For that reason, it's important to consider the staff-to-patient ratio of any care facility. In particular, you'll want to investigate the number of personal care aides, as they provide the bulk of resident care; a good ratio would be one aide to every five or six residents during the day and 1-to-15 at night [source: Matthews].
Good patient care is more than just numbers, though. Residents aren't likely to feel comfortable if they never see the same person twice, and if caregiving is merely a revolving door of who's available. A resident's transition into a long-term care facility will likely be made smoother by receiving individualized care from a trusted caregiver. Ideally, as you tour a long-term care facility, you'd observe positive interactions between caregivers and residents, such as staff greeting residents by name and staff quickly and cheerfully responding to residents' needs and requests.
We're not done judging other people yet -- on the next page we'll do some more spying.
2: The Other People
While scoping out the environment of the long-term care facility is important, so too ­is observing how people fit into that environment. That means taking a look at the current residents to see if they seem happy and engaged. They should look clean and well-groomed, because this will indicate that someone has taken care of them recently. Are there people moving around, taking part in activities, or are most people staying in their rooms by themselves?
To truly get the vibe of other people, you should visit more than once. Your formal visit, with the facility's tour guide, will obviously be the residence's attempt to show you the best of the best. Stop by at least twice more, unannounced, to see how people behave when tours aren't going on. By checking into common rooms and dining areas at different points in the day, you'll get a sense of what a full 24-hour period might be like in the home.
1: Report Card
While visiting a residence can give you a sense of all that goes well there, you may have to do some digging to find out what goes poorly there. If a facility receives Medicare or Medicaid funding, it is inspected every 15 months by a state surveyor. The surveyor's most recent findings are required to be kept onhand and shown to anyone who asks to see them. On this report, you'll learn what violations have been reported, such as physical abuse or health violations. Some of the violations may be minor, and no facility has a perfect record, but by asking staff members about these shortcomings, you might get a sense of whether they take complaints seriously or whether complaints are routinely blown off.
Another good resource is your state's long-term care ombudsman (some communities also have local ombudsmen). The ombudsman acts as an advocate for long-term care residents and their families and visits facilities regularly. He or she will have a good idea of the issues and problems at certain facilities, as well as a sense of what residences might particularly suit a certain type of person. The ombudsman's services are provided for free.

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For Elderly Diabetics, Questions About Aggressive Care

By PAULA SPAN

The more I talk to researchers about caring for older people, the more a couple of themes emerge. Namely:
a) Sometimes less really is more. Overtreatment can create big problems, as a recent post on prescribing antibiotics for common urinary tract infectionsreported, and it happens frequently.
b) Older bodies respond differently from younger ones, a reality health care providers don't always take into consideration. A routine that includes a few late-day cocktails, to take one of many examples, can be a pleasure for a 40-year-old but a danger for an 80-year-old.
The latest conversation I've had along those lines, with Dr. Sei J. Lee, a geriatrician at San Francisco's V.A. Medical Center, concerned diabetes, a huge health issue for seniors. More than a quarter of adults over 65 have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Should the elderly respond to Type 2 diabetes in the same way as younger patients? Maybe not, Dr. Lee suggested in a recent commentary in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
People with Type 2 diabetes hear a lot about "glycemic control," keeping their blood sugar levels down through diet and exercise and, when necessary, medications. The target number, for most adults under most guidelines, is 7 percent on the commonly used A1C hemoglobin test.
"For younger patients, if we can get them down to near-normal levels, then over the long term — 10 or 20 years — the risk of severe complications, like the need for kidney dialysis, are lower," Dr. Lee explained. Lower blood sugar substantially reduces the odds of diabetics' developing blindness and kidney disease, research shows; it also appears to help ward off heart attacks, strokes and amputations, though that's less well documented.
Maintaining that number — what's called "tight glycemic control" — can be an arduous undertaking, Dr. Lee acknowledged, but "for someone who's 30, we expect many years of life, so it's absolutely worth doing."
However, it takes years of tight glycemic control — at least eight, probably closer to 10 — to produce those benefits. For frail old people, Dr. Lee believes the risk-benefit equation works out differently.
"They have so many other health conditions that the chances they will survive long enough to benefit from these reductions are very low," Dr. Lee said. "The average life span of people in nursing homes is less than three years, which reflects how sick they are."
Moreover, stringent adherence to glycemic guidelines may prove quite difficult for frail elders. If their blood sugar levels slip too low, for example, they can sink into hypoglycemia, more dangerous for them than for younger diabetics. Seizures, coma and brain damage are among the scarier consequences.
But even if that doesn't happen, "tight control imposes a major burden on how people live their lives," Dr. Lee said. "We have to resort to stronger medicines and more monitoring" — finger sticks several times a day, perhaps insulin injections at least daily, dietary restrictions for people who may already not be eating well.
"In nursing homes, patients tell me, 'I used to enjoy so many things that I can't do anymore. Food is one of the few pleasures I still have, and now you're going to take that away from me?'" Dr. Lee said. "Some patients don't care, but some care a lot."
A tough regimen for lots of older patients, tight control can be particularly problematic for those with dementia, who have a terminal disease and who may not be able to understand the reason behind all the needles and constraints.
"Let's be a bit more balanced," Dr. Lee suggested. "In the frail elderly, trying to get to near-normal blood sugar levels doesn't make sense."
Frail elders can still benefit from treatment, he hastened to add. Uncontrolled diabetes can exacerbate incontinence, for instance, and it can increase falls.
Moreover, age itself is not the criterion. "If your parent is 70 and playing tennis three times a week, he or she should be treated like a younger patient," Dr. Lee said. Someone that healthy and active might well survive long enough to reap the benefits of a stringent approach to lowering blood sugar.
But for someone who is 85 and frail, has other chronic diseases and already takes lots of medications, who lives in a nursing home or needs that level of care, aggressive treatment for diabetes is unlikely to pay off in better health, Dr. Lee said. Looser glycemic goals might serve better.
"The focus should be less on long-term outcomes, more on what's important for each person," Dr. Lee said. That would involve deeper discussions between physicians and patients, he acknowledged, rather than doctors' reflexively urging patients to maintain a number more logical for 40-year-olds.
But he suspects that many doctors already see that the push for lower blood sugar levels can prove troublesome for their older patients. "I wrote the commentary," he said, "to give them a rational reason to do what they already felt, in their guts, is right."

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Future Health Care Cost Estimate for Retired Couples Falls for First Time

jryedinak | April 3, 2011
The annual estimate of future health care costs for retired couples saw its first ever decline according to a new report from Fidelity Investments.
The company estimates a 65-year-old couple retiring this year will need $230,000 to pay for medical expenses throughout retirement, not including nursing-home care.  This represents an 8% decline from last year, when the estimate was $250,000.
Until this year, the estimate has increased an average of 6 percent annually since the initial calculation of $160,000 in 2002.
The $20,000 decline in the estimate from last year was driven by Medicare changes contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, both signed into law in 2010.  These changes, which reduced out-of -pocket expenses for prescription drugs for many seniors, resulted in the reduced estimate.
"While the savings generated through the health care reform laws is a welcome relief to many seniors, it should be considered a one-time adjustment, at least for the time being," said Brad Kimler, executive vice president of Fidelity's Benefits Consulting business.  "Today's workers still face the prospect of significant medical expenses in retirement and must begin to include those costs in their retirement plan strategies.
"Looking forward over the next few years, Americans should expect health care expenses to continue to increase annually due to a number of factors including higher costs for medical services, the introduction of new technology and an increased utilization of health care services like diagnostic testing," Kimler added.

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Priorities For End-Of-Life Care Revealed By Europe-Wide Survey

Main Category: Palliative Care / Hospice Care
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Caregivers / Homecare
Article Date: 24 Mar 2011 - 3:00 PDT
A survey of over 9,000 people in seven different countries across Europe has shown that the majority would want to improve the quality of life in the time they had left, rather than extend it. The survey reveals attitudes across Europe for dealing with serious illnesses such ascancer, and issues raised when caring for a close friend of relative in the last few months of life. The research was carried out as part of an EU-funded project led by researchers from King's College London.

The telephone survey of 9,339 people was carried out to explore attitudes to end of life care in seven European countries: Germany, England, the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), Portugal, Spain and Italy. The survey showed that 71% of people said they would want to improve quality of life for the time they had left; 4% would like to extend life; and 25% said both quality and extending life was equally important. Across all countries in the survey, 'being in pain' was the symptom or problem that was of most concern, followed by 'being a burden to others'

The results of the survey will be discussed by policy makers, research funders and experts in palliative care on Thursday in Brussels at a symposium held by PRISMA - a consortium of experts from nine European and African countries, led by King's College London. The PRISMA group says greater attention must be paid to quality of life alongside potentially life-prolonging treatments, as the survey shows quality of life is important to people, often more so than extending it.

A group of leading researchers and clinicians, led by Professor Irene Higginson OBE at King's College London, will call for delivery of end-of-life care across Europe to be reviewed in the light of the results, and investment in research increased, in order to meet people's needs more effectively at the end of their lives.

Professor Irene Higginson OBE, scientific lead of PRISMA and Professor of Palliative Care and Policy at King's College London, said: 'There needs to be a fundamental shift in the approach to delivering end-of-life care across Europe. Although individuals' priorities and needs will differ, it is absolutely clear that people value highly the quality of the time they have left.

'What we need to see is a step-change in the way policy-makers and clinicians across Europe look at end-of-life care, and ensure that people's priorities and needs inform planning and delivery of these services. Together with an increased investment in scientific research into end-of-life care, this will really make a difference to the quality of people's lives as they face their last weeks and days.'

The PRISMA group is calling for a change in the way all health care professionals working with patients with advanced diseases measure things which are important to patients and their families. Currently, the focus is on physical tests such as x-rays, scans and monitoring bloods. But PRISMA warns that, although important, these routine tests may miss the effects of the illness on the person and their family. A move towards assessment of symptoms, psychological, social and spiritual needs is urgently required in order to ensure an adequate response to patient and family priorities.

PRISMA compared the survey results with the views of nearly 800 clinicians working in end-of-life care and recommended a five-pronged approach to tackle: symptom control; emotional well-being; family support; choice for where to be cared for; and information needs.

Professor Stein Kaasa, a member of PRISMA, Professor of Palliative Medicine and an oncologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology said: 'It is now the responsibility of all clinicians working with patients with life-threatening diseases such as advanced cancer, to measure and lead others to measure the outcomes of their work against what matters to patients, so they know they are on the right track to providing quality care.'

Source:
Katherine Barnes
King's College London

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/220052.php

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2010 Tax Tips for Family Caregivers

If you are supporting an elderly parent, you may qualify for some tax benefits from the government that rewards you for your caregiving efforts. These tax benefits may include claiming your parent as a dependant on your tax return or deducting the contributions you made towards their medical expenses and medical care. In order to qualify for these tax breaks, you must first be aware of the tax benefits available and then determine whether or not you qualify. "It is important for all family caregivers to verify their eligibility and take advantage of these tax credits," said Allen Hager, chairman and CEO of Right at Home, Inc, an international in-home care franchise.
Tip #1: Determine if You are Able to Claim Your Elderly Parent as a Dependent
If you support your elderly parent, you will want to claim them as a dependant on your tax return to receive the maximum amount of tax savings. You can then take an exemption for the 2010 tax year which will equate to a reduction of your taxable income by $3,650. In order to determine if you qualify to claim your elderly parent as a dependent, you will need to pass the following four tests.

1. Not a qualifying child test
2. Member of household or relationship test
3. Gross income test
4. Support test

Not a Qualifying Child Test
Obviously, a qualifying child is another type of a dependent; however, the IRS wants to ensure a qualifying child dependent status (which has its own set of requirements, such as under age 24 and a full-time student) is not claimed using these four tests. This test is a non-issue for caregivers.
Member of Household or Relationship Test
If you are a son or daughter who is caring for a parent, you qualify since you meet the relationship test. You and your parent do not need to live with one another in order to qualify. In the case where a parent lives on their own or in assisted living, your parent may still qualify as a dependant as long as they pass the other tests.
Gross Income Test
In order to meet the requirements of this test and qualify as a dependant, your parent's gross income for the year must be less than $3,650. This amount does not include income from non-social securityor disability payments. However, income received from other sources, such as withdrawals from retirement plans, pension benefits, rental income, or interest and dividends from investments would go towards a parent's income total, which could disqualify them as a dependant if they exceed the income limit.
Support Test
The final test to complete is the support test. This test can be the most complicated to determine. In order to meet the requirements of this test, you must pay for over half of your parent's expenses. There are many factors involved in coming to this conclusion including food, housing, clothing, medical care and transportation expenses.

Tip #2: File a "Multiple Support Declaration" if Multiple Siblings are Providing Support
Another possible deduction comes into play when there are multiple siblings giving support for a parent. In this case, as long as a sibling provides at least 10 percent of the support and the combined support of all siblings makes up half of their parent's annual expenses, the parent could be claimed as a dependent. However, only one sibling can take the exemption for the parent. An agreement needs to be reached each year as to which sibling will take the exemption on their return. The sibling taking the exemption will need to file Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration, and have all of the other siblings sign the form claiming that they will not take the exemption on their own return.
Tip #3: Determine if You are Eligible for a Dependent-Care Credit
As a family caregiver, you may be eligible for the Child and Dependent Care Credit if you paid someone else to care for your elderly parent so you were allowed the opportunity to work or look for work. If eligible, you would be allowed a credit of up to 35 percent of the expenses paid for dependent care with the maximum amount of expenses being $3,000. This means the tax credit can be worth up to $1,050. To be eligible, the care recipient must be unable to physically or mentally care for him or herself. Care recipients must also be claimed as a dependent (or could claim as a dependent expect that the person had a gross income of $3,650) on the caregiver's tax return, according to the qualifications listed on IRS Form 2441.
Tip #4: Deduct Your Parent's Medical Costs
If you were not able to claim your elderly parent as a dependant because his or her gross income was more than $3,650, there still may be a chance to receive tax savings this tax year. Medical expenses may be deducted on your tax return, along with your own expenses, for dependants and for individuals that would have been a dependant, except for the income guidelines. The IRS allows caregivers to deduct costs incurred from a parent's health care, such as hospitalization,prescription drugs, dental care and even long-term care services. The deduction is limited to medical expenses that are in excess of 7.5 percent of the caregiver's adjusted gross income (AGI). So in the case where a caregiver makes $50,000 in 2010, they would not be able to receive any deductions until they had paid medical bills accumulating to $3,750.

http://www.agingcare.com/Featured-Stories/145339/claiming-elderly-parents-as-dependents-2010-taxes.htm

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New Devices Help Seniors Stay Longer in Their Own Homes

Sensors, GPS and more are being used to track aging parents' movements

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Seniors who want to remain in their homes despite illness and infirmity can get a high-tech assist these days.
So can their children who might worry about an elderly parent living alone, often far from family members.
The 1980s-era medical alert pendants made famous by their television advertising ("I've fallen, and I can't get up!") are now among a wide array of devices that can help keep an eye on aging parents and get them help when they need it.
Available technologies include:

• Sensors in the home to track an older person's movement, from the front door to the medicine cabinet to the refrigerator to the stove. The sensors are linked with computers that can issue alerts when people deviate from their routine.
• Global positioning system devices, using the GPS technology that's become so common in cars, that can help locate someone with dementia who's wandered from home.
• Computerized pillboxes that track whether medication is being taken on time.

"The notion behind these technologies is that people stay in their homes with some peace of mind on both their and their families' part," said Elinor Ginzler, AARP's senior vice president for livable communities. "In many cases, sensors are actually placed in various places throughout the older person's home. They are continuously tracking data. More or less all of them are looking for changes in that typical pattern and can note that change and alert responsible parties."
Ginzler gave the example of a "sensor checking to see if the front door is opened to pick up the newspaper every day by a certain time, because that's what Dad does." If he usually gets the paper by 7:30 a.m. and it's now 8:30 a.m., an alert might be sent to his son or daughter letting them know about the deviation in his schedule. They then have the option of calling to check in on him.
It might seem that older parents would reject the loss of privacy that can come with so much electronic eavesdropping, but that's an incorrect assumption, Ginzler said.
Nearly nine in 10 seniors in an AARP survey said they would be willing to give up some privacy if it allowed them to remain in their own homes longer. When asked about specific home safety technologies, seniors often said they would be willing to use them even if they weren't previously aware of the devices.
"Resoundingly, people said, 'Yeah, I'll learn new things,'" Ginzler said. "There's a resounding motivation for learning new things when your independence is on the line."
Though such devices aren't in wide use yet, a significant number of people seem to be taking advantage of them.
Harry Wang, director of health and mobile product research for Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market research firm that tracks digital technology trends, said that with "the senior safety tracking and monitoring that helps seniors remain in the home longer, we've seen a little bit better traction over the last several years."
About one in 10 caregivers of senior citizens use tracking sensors that can remotely detect a potential safety hazard in the home, according to an AARP survey of caregivers. About 16 percent of caregivers said they had used some type of emergency response system.
Parks Associates has projected that by 2012 more than 3.4 million senior citizens in the United States will be using networked sensor applications to monitor their movements and improve their health.
"There are more and more products out there, more and more technologies available," Wang said. "It's an emerging field. I don't think we're done with all those brilliant ideas yet."
However, Wang and Ginzler cited three things that must happen for such technologies to succeed:

• The design must be simple, elegant and enticing so that seniors can easily learn how to use the device -- and perhaps even enjoy it. "You have to make sure the solutions are well-designed, in the sense that it's exciting," Wang said. "It's not reminding seniors that they are old and fragile in the home, but reminding them that they are still young and able to enjoy life and remain in the home."
• The devices must come down in price. "The No. 1 barrier is the cost of the system," Wang said. "They must be affordable to seniors."
• Companies and families must market the devices properly. "A lot of this has to do with the way the technology is presented, and the family conversation about this," Ginzler said. "The message needs to be, 'We want to make sure you can stay in your house and be independent the way you want to be, and we can respond if you get in trouble.' When that family conversation goes well, it results in peace of mind both for that person and their family members."

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