New thinking in care at 'home'

Laurie Orlov’s blog has some interesting examples of new ways of providing care in the home.

The MedCottage concept is new to me. For $2000-$2500/month you can lease the cottage. I quote: “The home is designed with video monitoring at floor level so that a caregiver can check for falls while still allowing the senior resident to have privacy. There is a pressurized ventilation system that can keep airborne pathogens in or keep outdoor air out. It includes a lift, attached to a built-in track in the ceiling that can move a patient from bed to bathroom so the caregiver can avoid heavy lifting. The bathroom is handicapped accessible and safe. Other features include floor and wall lighting to help prevent falls and a system to set up important reminders such as when it is time to take medication."

Clearly, you need to have the room available for such a structure and in the UK you would undoubtedly need to go through the byzantine planning authorities which could literally take years.

However, what this example shows, as do the others in the blog posting, is the range of solutions available other than the traditional care home or domiciliary care. Dick Stroud