‘Telemedicine’ house helps older people stay safe and independent

Steve Hards

OK-ish article from the TimesOnline, but a bit confused by the telehealth/telemedicine/telecare terminology (not that you can really blame the journalist – see Telecare Aware’s Terminology Campaign). What will really irk people from the Independent Living Group (Quitetcare) and the ex-WebVMC people is the passing reference to “The system, developed by GE Healthcare and Intel…” ‘Telemedicine’ house helps older people stay safe and independent.

1 thought on “‘Telemedicine’ house helps older people stay safe and independent”

  1. Definitions mangled, article confused

    This article is an imprecise mash of telecare and telehealth with a few clunkers thrown in to spice up the story. This layout in the home is based on Living Independently’s QuietCare – still an independent company by current reports; it is interesting that there is no recognition of the company or the brand name. Hungary is an existing GE Healthcare project announced last fall, again using QuietCare as the base (now with Intel, presumably). Ecumen is a QuietCare/Living Independently Group assisted living client of long standing. It is also Minnesota based with no communities in Ilinois or Chicago. One wonders whether this writer was unusually sloppy or GE was not entirely precise.

    This is a clear indicator that GE Healthcare is moving ahead in merging elements of Living Independently’s QuietCare and Intel’s Home Health Guide, at least in theory. This is of course dependent on a new wireless standard which will, at very least, require broadband in the home.

    This is positioned as being in private homes when this necessitates a highly customized installation. The greatest hurdle in a home-based model is finding a network of dealers/installers capable of performing this sophisticated level of installation (and follow up), repeatedly and correctly, at a reasonable price. Even more importantly, who will be monitoring and interpreting this torrent of data? Families? Doctors? Remote caregivers? Who?

    This reminds me of Oatfield Estates–another one-off experiment at an astronomical cost per residence.

    Final questions that the reporter seemed to avoid: can this be made affordable and will this be perceived as the usual invasion of privacy?

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