By Emily Curtis, Staff Writer
Now What?
Once the
family determines that a PERS is needed, there are other factors
to consider. Cost may be the primary consideration. Depending on
the level of monitoring needed, the price can vary widely. Also,
there are monthly monitoring fees in addition to the
installation fee.
The range of
the monitoring equipment needs to be considered. If the
equipment only monitors up to 150 feet, yet the back yard fence
is more than 200 feet away from the door, this piece of
equipment may not be appropriate. Will too many wires in the
home be a concern? Sometimes seniors are reluctant to install
new equipment for fear that if it malfunctions, other appliances
or utilities could be affected.
Finally, how
will the family be notified if there is a problem? An immediate
phone call may be more comforting than an email or a website.
Are there others who can be listed with the monitoring company?
Some companies allow up to four phone numbers to be on file for
the patient. Assigning only one person in the family to receive
calls may be emotionally taxing, thus it may be helpful to have
others who can respond to emergency situations if needed.
Home-based
PERS are not the only option. Nursing homes and assisted living
facilities use these as well. The information can be more
detailed and provide facility staff with in-depth information of
a patient or resident. If the decision to place someone in a
facility is made, monitoring can still be performed to keep
family members, staff, and physicians notified of immediate and
long-term needs.
Technology
advances are providing more options with PERS today than ever
before. These systems have evolved into much more than a system
that only dials a monitoring station if a button is pressed.
Sophisticated systems can “learn” more about the individual
wearer and can notify someone faster than before.
Also, there
are products on the market that provide not only the features
discussed previously, but provide several of these at the same
time. Finding a system that will adapt to the specific needs of
the family is crucial. Caregivers need to be content with the
choices they make when determining which PERS is appropriate to
their situation. The more comfortable the caregiver is with
their PERS options, the better families can adapt to the
decision to use one.
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