Wearable Technologies For Better Senior Care

Guest post by Omar Metwally, MD

Health tech isn’t just a buzzword anymore. It’s a movement that’s promising to make patients’, caregivers’, and doctors’ lives easier.

It’s supposed to save everyone money, help coordinate care, and help keep patients compliant with their meds – lots of buzzwords you’ll hear, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, where health tech was born.

I’ve cared for my grandfather most of my life. He taught me how to build computers, create software, and led me to fall in love with technology. He’s also the reason I decided to become a physician and devote my life to patients and their families.

After completing my medical education, I decided to combine my software development skills with my knowledge of how the human body works by moving to San Francisco and founding a health tech company with my friend, a former Google employee with several years of experience as a lead analyst turning query data (all of the things billions of people search on Google each day) into meaningful information.

We both realized early in our endeavor that while older adults stand to benefit the most from technology, they’re excluded far too often by software and hardware designed without their unique needs in mind. We also realized that shockingly few websites and services exist to help caregivers with the remarkable but challenging work they do.

My co-founder and I both have physicians and/or nurses as parents. We also both know firsthand how rewarding and challenging caregiving can be. We decided to devote our professional lives to helping caregivers because it’s something that we’re both deeply passionate about. To make sure we were building a tool that would make their lives easier, we interviewed countless caregivers and asked them about their unique challenges and daily responsibilities. At every step of the way, I put our app in the hands of the same older adults who would be using it on a daily basis and asked them for feedback. We changed everything from font and button sizes to menu items to make sure it was as intuitive and easy to use as possible.

And so PulseBeat was born.

PulseBeat is a service that helps caregivers monitor loved ones with chronic disease using everyday consumer wearable devices. Despite the hype that wearable devices (such as Fitbit, Nike Fuel, and Jawbone) are receiving in the media these days, older adults are actually the first users of wearable devices! (think Life Alert). We’re going beyond Life Alert to collect information such as the number of steps a person takes, weight, blood pressure, and subjective symptoms and sending it in real-time to family caregivers, who can receive alerts at the first signs of changing health.

Our goals are to help older adults stay independent for as long as possible, make caregivers’ lives easier, and empower both patients and caregivers to engage in making the best decisions possible about their health. Knowledge is truly power, and when it comes to the health of your loved ones, why miss out?

As a token of our appreciation to the countless caregivers who’ve helped us, we’ve decided to make PulseBeat a free service. No monthly fees, no ads, no credit cards. Visit www.pulsebeat.io to try it out and tell us what you think.

Omar Metwally, MD is a physician, health technologist, and founder of PulseBeat. He is passionate about wearable computing and creating software that engages older adults to participate in their healthcare. He is based in San Francisco, where he enjoys long-distance running and hiking.

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A Genetic Link Among Caregivers?

Caregiver Lynette Wilson Juul is inspiring the next generation of caregivers.

Lynette Wilson Juul submitted a story for Finding the JOY in Caregiving, and it was so inspiring I wanted to do a feature of her and her son, Peter.


Here is the story that touched me. I hope it will also touch you.

I sometimes wonder if there is a genetic predisposition to caregiving.

I have been a caregiver for many years, and have had the privilege of working in diverse situations, including at-home care for the elderly, work with the mentally ill in a group home, and case management for the developmentally disabled.

At the same time, I’ve also been raising a sixteen-year-old son with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although extremely challenging at times, he has been my pride and JOY, full of quirkiness, quick-wit, and, as I recently discovered, deep compassion.

Over the years, I’ve worked at jobs where I could include him in certain activities. Visits to group homes on holidays and special occasions. Participation in recreational activities, like trips to the movies, mall, or even a nearby aquarium. He has even gone on vacations with some of the individuals I’ve served, and in the process, developed close relationships with their family members.

He has observed his mom being a caregiver not only for him, but also for others, during his entire life.

Last year, my son made the decision to move 3,000 miles away to assist his father in

caring for his aging grandparents. Sadly, his grandmother passed away this past spring due to medical reasons, leaving behind his grandfather, whose memory is steadily deteriorating due to dementia.

Yet right in the midst of this difficult situation, I have seen a truly amazing and incredibly inspiring transformation take place in my often self-absorbed teenager during this past year, and it has been an absolute JOY to witness.

In spite of the tremendous challenges of caring for an aging loved one, my son has managed to form a strong and special bond with his Grandfather, one that did not exist before. Like a duck to water, my son slid right into the role of caring for his “Far Far” (an affectionate Danish term for Grandfather).

In our frequent phone conversations, my son described to me how he helped his Grandfather get up, dressed, and on the bus to the daycare program. He detailed how he organized his medications for the week, prepared evening meals for him, and most importantly, how he helped establish a regular routine for his “Far Far” filled with quality companionship.

And even though his Grandfather slowly continues to disconnect from the familiar world he once knew, my son, along with the presence of a loyal and loving dog, has managed to maintain a meaningful relationship with him.

I asked him one night how he learned to take such good care of his Grandfather.

He answered quite quickly, as if the answer should be obvious. “I learned it from watching you, Mommy.”

I could not have been more proud of my son at that moment… or more grateful to have chosen caregiving as a vocation.

She adds, “All I’ve ever wanted to do was touch other lives in a meaningful way, and caregiving has allowed me this pleasure.”

Click on the link for more information about Lynette Wilson Juul.

Lynette may have a point: There may be a genetic link among caregivers.

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The Alzheimer's Family: Our Unique Journeys

Though they look through the prism of the future from different angles, people with Alzheimer's disease and their loved ones will likely find their lives dramatically altered after the onset and diagnosis of AD.

Certainly, the person who develops the disease is facing a life-altering and ultimately terminal disease. However, because of the intensive care needed by people with advanced Alzheimer's, and the pain involved in watching a loved one gradually lose their cognitive abilities, some people wonder if the caregivers endure more than the person with the disease.

Every case of Alzheimer's disease is as unique as the individual with the disease, and every caregiver brings unique traits to their caregiving journey. Each configuration, also, has different resources, different support systems and different coping skills. Thus, there is no one answer, and if there were the answer would likely change, depending on the challenges of any particular day.

A quick look at the Alzheimer's journey from inside

At this time, Alzheimer's disease is considered incurable. People who develop AD tend to die from seven to 10 years after diagnosis, though some can live as long as 20 years. Still, upon diagnosis, the person diagnosed knows instantly that his or her life is going to change dramatically.

• Though testimonies from people with AD illustrate that many people with dementia continue to enjoy life for a number of years, there is no denying that their life will change dramatically, over time.
• The person with AD must come to terms with the fact that as time moves forward, he or she is likely to lose the ability to live independently. Worse for many people, is the realization that one's memories and ability to reason will likely be stripped away. Their feeling of dignity as a human being is subject to being altered, as well.
• Most people like feeling as though they have some control over their lives. The person with Alzheimer's lives in a world that is increasingly confusing, and often frightening, as the stages of the disease move forward. Making sense of one's surroundings becomes nearly impossible.
• Paranoia is an understandable development in many people with Alzheimer's. When the brain tells a person one thing and everyone around this person is saying the opposite, it would be natural to wonder if people are playing tricks on them, lying to them or even stealing from them. Paranoid behavior in AD is quite common and causes great pain to both the person with the disease and the caregiver.
• People with the disease generally become completely dependent on others, which is hard enough for most people. However, with AD, the person will likely lose the ability to remember who their caregivers are from moment to moment. Spouse, child, grandchild? Eventually, only the feeling of being dependent on a complete stranger may remain.

The caregiver's journey

Caring for a person with Alzheimer's is intensive and stressful, and it can be all-encompassing. After a loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease people generally suffer through an agonizing period of grief. It seems impossible to accept the fact that their spouse or parent has a disease that will rob him or her of personality, memories and the ability for self care. Yet, there is no alternative but to accept the diagnosis and move forward.

• One of the first things most people do after the diagnosis is to plan for the inevitable changes Alzheimer's brings. However, with Alzheimer's there are many variables. Some people do quite well for months or even years. Others will decline quickly. Yet, the family must try to look ahead at the changes that will most likely occur, and plan with their loved one how best to manage the disease and future care.
• With AD, people can change moods in an instant. The caregiver may be constantly on edge, worrying about mood swings, incontinence issues or the person wandering away and getting lost. Some people with AD have significant personality changes, which is distressing to loved ones.
• Watching the slow process of Alzheimer's rob a loved one of memories and abilities can be excruciating. People who love and care for someone with Alzheimer's disease face the daily task of accepting the losses their spouse or parent must endure, all the while knowing that at the end of this journey they will suffer the second loss of their loved one through death.
• The paranoia that often accompanies Alzheimer's can turn the diagnosed person against his or her caregiver, leaving the caregiver feeling helpless and ineffective.
• Alzheimer's disease is progressive and there is a downward spiral through recognized stages, however that doesn't mean the disease leads down a straight path. This uncertainty can contribute to the caregiver feeling uniquely alone and isolated, even when support services are offered.

Considering the challenges that people with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers face, is there any joy at all in the journey? For many, yes. Caregivers can and do find joy in caring for someone they love, even if exhaustion and occasional impatience can make them wonder how long they can continue this intensive care. Most people eventually need to include paid outside help.
As for the person with Alzheimer's, many find a new determination after the diagnosis to live each day as fully as possible. They are aware of the changes that loom in their future, which makes the present more precious.

Who has a more difficult time? I believe that question is like most other quality of life questions. The attitude of the people involved, as well as their resilience, their flexibility and ability to accept what life hands them, will make the answer to this question unique for every Alzheimer's family.

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