Vital Technology: Connected Health Care System for Elderly's Quality of Life

Introduction

Vital technology gets construed as an innovative service that can help the elderly by improving the quality of their life and health through a connected health care system. The technology uses a vital band during emergencies as they act as a voice call out. The band helps in monitoring the health of the elderly patients, especially, with the asthmatic elderlies when they need inhalers when having panic attacks. The technology also has a fall detection watch that helps in determining the movements of the elders, especially when they fall (Lerner-Lam et al., 2015). The action is made possible as the fall detection tracks signs such as respiratory rate, oxygen, heartbeat, physical activity, and quality of sleep of the elderly. The system also acts as a medication reminder to them since most always have memory losses.

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Vital technology was introduced to the elderly concept in 2016 after Dan Flaherty observed that the residents of elderly care that he was supporting financially were not putting the pendants on, which could be used to monitor their falls (Lerner-Lam et al., 2015). The co-founder of the company had a notion that the pendants embarrassed them as they were visible, and the action would imply that they were not ready in case of emergencies. The vital band was launched two years later after the company set to work on a smartwatch that would be easier for the seniors to use when monitoring the falls in a less cumbersome way.

The Vital band is water-resistant, sweat-proof, and can be charged while on the wrist hence ensures full-time safety. The action made it so efficient and reliable such that in an event where a fall is detected, the alarm goes in a jiffy to an appropriate call center, which dispatches emergency services to aid the elder. If the senior decides not to respond to the emergency response services, a fall alert is sent to five family members and donators via email or text (Lerner-Lam et al., 2015).

There is also a vital care application that enables family members to view their beloved one by streaming vitals, historical readings conducted by the nurses, managing the fall alerts, editing profile information, and viewing nutritional information. The monthly subscription for the vital band ranges from 25 to 50 dollars monthly, which includes the device itself. The costs can be compensated through the medical facilities, which depicts that it is cost-effective hence obtainable (Lerner-Lam et al., 2015).

Zach Anderson, a senior computer science student from Kentucky University, also developed a vital vision which helps a surgeon in the operation room by monitoring the vital signs as they wear the vital vision glasses during the operation as sometimes they get distracted (Anderson, 2016). Moreover, an Anastasia machine from the GE health care, which has a lot of protocols, can be hooked from the back end to receive the data from the patient.

A computer is then connected at the back of the Anastacia machine. The codes written can read the vital signs, heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxidation level. Data is then obtained after every second from the Anastacia machine and broadcasted to the google glasses connected to the computer (Anderson, 2016). The action, thus, depicts that vital technology helps in improving the quality of life of the elderly and is always highly recommended.

References

Anderson, Z. (2016). A Vital Vision: UK Student Brings Wearable Technology to the OR. The University of Kentucky. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo5ST5cF

MrILerner-Lam, A., Seeber, L., Chen, R., & PALISADES, N. (2015). Vital technology as a human right. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/chrr/pdf/vitaltechnologyCSMONITOR.pdf