As the overall population in the United States ages, more than 50 million people are now finding themselves providing care for a family member. Depending on the statistics you read, 25-75% of these unpaid “informal” caregivers have those they care for living with them in the same household. The most common informal caregiving relationship is that of an adult child assisting an elderly parent.This scenario poses some safety issues that can be solved with a wireless intercom system.
The following article from the Oakland Tribune gives a perfect example of why caregivers may want to use a wireless intercom system.
Seniors Safer With Intercoms
Oakland Tribune, May 1, 2005
By Nancy Grandfield, San Carlos, CA
I had the joyful experience of having my 90-year-old father live with me for 2 1/2 years before he died. We did all of the things you suggested in your fine article (“Real Life Rooms,” April 23), and had only one incident, a sad one, that I want to share with you as an additional suggestion for your readers.
He lived in an “apartment” that is really a converted basement of our house. Because he couldn’t climb stairs for meals, I ministered to him day and night, going up and down the stairs myself. Early one morning I decided to have a cup of coffee before I went down to check on him.
When I finally got to his room I found him on the floor, wedged between the twin beds, soaked with water that had spilled on him from the carafe next to his bed when he fell. He had gotten up to turn on the thermostat, fell, and had been there three hours.
My recommendation is that every caregiver should have an intercom system installed in the bedroom, the line kept open so that one could hear every noise from the elder’s bedroom. If I had that by my own bedside, I would have heard his plaintive calls the moment he fell, and responded immediately. It still grieves my heart to think of him lying there on the floor, weakly calling my name.
The WireFree Wireless Portable Intercom from IntercomsOnline.com has a Monitor feature that caregivers can use to listen to their elderly parent without the parent having to press any buttons. These long-life, battery-powered wireless intercoms can be moved around anywhere within a range of up to 1000 feet. You can find the WireFree Wireless Intercom at www.IntercomsOnline.com.