Public telesurveillance service for frail elderly living at home, outcomes and cost evolution: a quasi experimental design with two follow-ups

Abstract

Background: Telesurveillance is a technologically based modality that allows the surveillance of patients in the natural setting, mainly home. It is based on communication technologies to relay information between a patient and a central call center where services are coordinated. Different types of telesurveillance systems have been implemented, some being staffed with non-health professionals and others with health professional, mainly nurses. Up to now, only telesurveillance services staffed with non-health professionals have been shown to be effective and efficient. The objective of this study was to document outcomes and cost evolution of a nurse-staffed telesurveillance system for frail elderly living at home.

How Assistive Technology Use by Individuals with Disabilities Impacts Their Caregivers

“…Two related studies of a medic-alert device found it increased caregivers’ sense of security and decreased their sense of burden. 36, 44 Four studies looked exclusively at AT for individuals with cognitive impairment. The AT that was investigated included a day/night clock, 29,33,43 lost item locator, 33 automatic nightlight, 33 gas cooker device, 33 and a picture button telephone.…”

“…None of the intervention studies described the characteristics of participants lost to follow-up. Fourteen studies 13,16,29–32,36,38–40,42,44–45 did not explicitly define the caregivers they included and eight 11,13,27–28,32, 34–35,38 relied on care recipients’ perceptions in order to establish caregivers’ outcomes. None documented the usage frequency of the AT being studied in any manner.…”

“…Quantitative studies were primarily descriptive in nature and the four intervention studies 33,39,44,45 used a pre-post design without a control group. The highest-level qualitative studies 30, 40–42 described shared pathways or meaning among participants, but none offered extensive description of experiential variation among participants or provided dense explanatory description.…”

“…Like studies 35,44 diverse subjective aspects of caregiving should be measured, such as fatigue, burden, and personal satisfaction. 15 …”

Effectiveness of Telecare in Elderly Populations–A Comparison of Three Settings

“…9,10 A recent study has shown satisfaction to be far higher with this type of service compared with other services such as home care, not only among the elderly but also among their caregivers, because telemedicine appears to have a positive impact on their stress and on anxiety concerning the health of their elderly relation. 11 The primary aim of this study was to assess the level of satisfaction with 3 types of formal care systems: the day care center, the nursing home, and telecare in a group of frail oldest elderly, and to describe the characteristics of the population using the services.…”