envoyatHome Success Story: Elderly Remote Monitor Discovers Unseen Distress

Our elderly adult is Ella (an alias to protect her privacy.) Ella is 93 years old.

Ella has lived alone in her own home since being widowed 2 years ago. Her son and daughter each live about 15 minutes away. Her daughter is the primary caregiver. She visits a few times per week, delivers cooked meals, and manages Ella’s medical appointments.

Ella and her family are motivated to keep her living independently in her own home. The family cannot afford assisted living, full time in-home care, or the home renovations required to move her in with her daughter. 

Ella’s Aging in Place Challenges

Ella’s kitchen and living room are on the main floor of her home. There are 3 stairs up to her only bathroom and the bedroom where she sleeps and watches tv in the evening. Her family worries that Ella has to use stairs to get to the bathroom.

Ella is mobility challenged. She uses 2 walkers. One is kept on the first floor and the second is kept upstairs. She uses dual handrails to pull herself up the stairs.

Ella has an emergency pendant button. She had a prior fall in her basement laundry room. While on the floor in her emergency situation, she HAD NOT pushed the button despite the fact that it was only inches from her hand. She has little recollection of the incident.

The Plan to Keep Ella Living Independently

Her family brought in the envoyatHome elderly remote monitor. The prior emergency had proven that the PERS pendant was an unreliable solution for her.

Within a few days, envoyatHome discovered unseen behaviors that put Ella’s ability to live independently at risk.

Nutrition – Ella claimed that she was eating 3 meals daily and at regular, expected mealtimes. envoyatHome data showed that Ella was eating only once or twice per day, and at unexpected times.

Compliance to Doctor’s Orders – Ella was prescribed physical therapy after her prior fall. To maintain her strength and mobility, she was asked to use her walker and walk a loop around the ground floor of her home multiple times per day. envoyatHome data demonstrated that on most days, she was not doing her prescribed exercise.

Toileting – Ella’s family felt that 45 minutes in the bathroom would be more than enough time to complete any personal hygiene task. Therefore, they personalized envoyatHome to notify them if a bathroom visit exceeded 45 minutes, with escalating notifications as she overstayed. Ella’s family was alerted in real time of multiple overstays, and with each check in call, Ella provided a reasonable explanation. However, envoyatHome data showed the frequency and duration of bathroom overstays was subtly increasing.

Despite Ella’s insistence that she was “fine”, Ella’s daughter became concerned, so she shared the envoyatHome nutrition, compliance, and toileting data with Ella’s doctor. The doctor dispatched a nurse for an in-home exam.

The next morning while audible and visible alerts from envoyatHome were blaring on her daughter’s phone, the nurse arrived to find Ella struggling in the bathroom. In her struggle she had slid off the toilet.

For fear of being forced to leave her home for a Medicaid nursing home, Ella hadn’t told her family she had been suffering from incontinence. While Ella struggled in the bathroom, her emergency pendant and cell phone were sitting on her bedside table.

Reduce Caregiver Stress: The Most Important Feature of an Elderly Monitor

envoyatHome empowers family caregivers with the information they need to answer their most important questions. 

“Is my loved one safe and well RIGHT NOW?” 

“How can I make better decisions about my loved one’s care?”

Technology for caregiving should always:

Reduce caregiver stress for overwhelmed family caregivers

Generate important information that can be easily shared with doctors and medical professionals

Operate even for older adults who forget to wear or choose not to wear emergency pendants, bracelets, or other buttons

Respect both the older adult and their caregivers’ needs

Always on to provide information 24 x 7

With envoyatHome, caregivers always have the information they need to ensure their loved ones receive the very best care.