Technology plays an essential role in every modern workplace. From construction to hospitality, manufacturing to transport and everything in between, technology is required to drive efficiency and monitor workplace progress. It should come as little surprise that it also plays a vital role in Australian aged care. Technology provides support for the elderly through advanced communication, monitoring, personalised support and more. After all, healthcare intrinsically links to elderly support, and it is a given that healthcare continues to grow and benefit from technological advancements.
It’s with this in mind that we are going to discuss a few of the ways in which elderly support has specifically benefited from technological achievements. Technological advancements have optimised the way carers are able to support their patients whilst reducing the need for patients to be in constant transit to-and-from their local medical centre.
So, read on to find how modern elderly support workers are benefiting and enjoying the optimisation that healthcare tech provides:
Improved monitoring technology
The best aged care community services will enlist state of the art monitoring technology for their patients’ specific conditions. For example, modern technology like smartwatches can monitor a patient’s ongoing heart rate, blood pressure and vital signs, ensuring their support worker has a round-the-clock insight into their health and wellbeing.
In advanced support programs, these devices have alleviated the need to go through rigorous processes throughout the day to track these essentials, making them pivotal for high quality support centres.
Advanced communication
In the past, it could have been difficult for support workers to get in contact with loved ones and/or medical professionals. This is especially so if a loved one was busy at work or the patient lived further away from their nearest medical centre. However, modern communication advancements have made it so support workers can be in 24/7 contact with loved ones, emergency workers and other healthcare professionals. For example, a support worker may have to contact their patient’s doctor to receive advice regarding a specific medical manner. Instead of waiting on hold, or for the doctor to call back, a support worker may now have exclusive access to the doctor’s mobile number, making it far easier to contact them for said advice.
Personalised support
State of the art technology like AI is powering the way in which support workers understand their patient’s needs and how they respond to them. For example, AI systems can analyse a patient’s date and provide support workers with recommendations on how to handle that particular treatment situation.
What’s more, patients now have greater access to their own care plans and medical records, something which can be essential to assisting support workers with their program. This enhanced level of personalised support is essential to providing elderly Aussies with the means to receive the treatment they need on a case-by-case basis.
Increased efficiency
Many elderly patients have numerous support workers who work a variety of shifts throughout the week. These shifts can change weekly depending on both the patient’s needs and the support worker’s availability (as they might have numerous patients, too). Therefore, automated scheduling technology exists to optimise the scheduling process and ensure a complete roster to optimise staffing.
As you can see, technology is essential in Australian aged care services. We design programs to meet patients’ needs, optimizing communication, efficiency, monitoring, and support.
