Multidisciplinary, holistic and patient specific approach to follow up elderly adults

• Published in: Health and technology Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 95 - 100
• Main Authors: Armentano, Ricardo, Kun, Luis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-08-2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Age; Aging; Atherosclerosis; Biological and Medical Physics; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Biomedicine; Biophysics; Blood pressure; Cardiovascular disease; Chronic illnesses; Computational Biology/Bioinformatics; Demographics; Developing countries; Engineering; Health care expenditures; Immune system; Immunization; Infectious diseases; Integrated approach; LDCs; Medicine/Public Health; Monitoring; New technology; Older people; Original Paper; Parameters; Patients; Population; Quality of life; R & D/Technology Policy; Telemedicine; Ultrasonic imaging; Vaccines; Wave velocity; Wireless networks; United States > US; Wearable computing; Telemedicine; Cardiac monitoring; Assisted living for the elderly
• ISSN: 2190-7188; 2190-7196
• DOI: 10.1007/s12553-014-0080-0

Some seniors have medical conditions or lifestyles that put them at higher risk for certain diseases. With increasing age, the human immune system undergoes characteristic changes, termed immunosenescence, which lead to increased incidence and severity of infectious diseases and to insufficient protection following vaccination. One major health issue arising with age is the increasing prevalence and severity of some infectious diseases, which partly reflects the age-related decline in immune function. With the advancements of science and new knowledge regarding diseases, therapies, new drugs and vaccines and particularly new emphasis on wellness through prevention, humans are living longer. The increasing number of elders stresses the healthcare system by requiring more specialists to reach these individuals. On the other hand, new technologies such as wireless networks could give new possibilities for this increased demand by caring for these patients through the monitoring of vital parameters with wearable biomedical sensors, and give them the freedom to be mobile and still be under continuous monitoring, thereby bettering the quality of patient care while also addressing the issue of increased capacity that will be required by caregivers in both developed and developing nations. It is widely acknowledged that, by assisting senior citizens to look after their health at home, their independence can be maintained for longer, providing a higher quality of life for the retiree and lower care costs for the state and the family. A monitoring system could be used to measure several parameters indicating the physical status of the elderly patient. The introduction of such a system into the lives of the elderly can also offer reminders to take medicines, recommend vaccines and immunizations, dietary advice, immediate access to medical professionals and much more. It also reduces the need for visits to a local doctor. The current promising hardware/software platforms for wireless cardiac monitoring could include important measurements such as blood pressure and arterial pulse wave velocity, and have that information directly uploaded to the system.