For carers who remain employed, but are working flexibly or considering giving up work, signposting to services that support remote caring can help extend employment.
A multivariate adjusted OR of falls according to sex was calculated using logistic regression models adjusted for age, history of falling, cognitive dysfunction, planned surgery, wheelchair use, need for help to move, use of a remote caring system, rehabilitation, use of laxative, hypnotic or psychotropic medications and need for help with ADL, which were significant in the baseline comparison.
There were significant differences in age, history of falling, cognitive dysfunction, planned surgery, wheelchair use, need for help to move, use of a remote caring system, rehabilitation, use of laxative, hypnotic or psychotropic medications and need for help with activities of daily living (ADL) between patients who did and did not fall.
No differences were seen in sex between the two groups, but there were significant differences in age, history of falling, cognitive dysfunction, planned surgery, wheelchair use, need for help to move, use of a remote caring system, rehabilitation, use of laxative, hypnotic or psychotropic medications, need for help with ADL and low MMT score (right foot only).
The information obtained included age, sex, history of falling, history of diseases (eg, cognitive dysfunction), reason for hospitalisation (eg, surgery planned), need for care or help (eg, wheelchair use, help to move, use of a remote caring system, rehabilitation) and medication (eg, laxative, sedative, hypnotic, psychotropic).
SUNDAY, 10 p.m. www.discoveryhealth.com Chat with Dr. Butch Rosser of the Yale School of Medicine about remote care for patients, or telemedicine.
Delivering remote care successfully relies on a resilient technical infrastructure, preferably backed up by e-patient records.
This has "opened the door" to remote care, says Jonathan Linkous of the American Telemedicine Association.Telemedicine is more than a Skype chat between doctor and patient, says Michael Young, who works on remote care for the University of North Carolina.
The debate around remote care frequently stalls on the matter of expensive or complicated equipment, but often people have all the technology they need sitting in their pockets.
On the bus I read the news on my smartphone, looking out for stories about online or remote care which have increasingly become talking points in the media.
But I would argue that it's time to stop waiting for the future: remote care has an important role to play right now.
