After his minor surgery, your dad is home alone. While it’s okay if he’s alone, his medical team recommends that he has someone checking in for the next week. You’ve come across virtual caregiving and remote patient monitoring. Which is the best service for his needs?

To better understand what virtual caregiving and remote patient monitoring offer, it helps to understand their differences. It’s also important to know what your dad’s care needs will be for the next week or two.

What is Virtual Caregiving?

Virtual caregiving is a service where professional caregivers check on your dad using camera-free sensors. Sensors are placed around the home and detect your dad’s movements. The system learns your dad’s habits. It will sense when he leaves his room and goes into the bathroom, how long it takes him to shower, and where he goes next. As his daily routines are recorded, it helps the virtual caregiving system know when something isn’t right.

Suppose you want to know that your dad is up and active each morning. His virtual caregivers can monitor the motion sensors to ensure your dad is up and active. If he’s not, they can call and check. If that doesn’t work, they alert someone locally to check on him. If he falls, the sensors alert the caregivers, and they’ll dispatch someone to his home if needed.

The virtual caregiving system creates a “Trusted Circle.” Those are the people who will be allowed to get messages from the agency. This information is used to contact those nearby in case of an emergency. If your dad gets up and isn’t feeling well, you’d get a message alerting you to this so that you can go to his house to help.

With virtual caregiving, the goal is to make sure your dad is okay and has people to help out. Remote patient monitoring does some of the same things, but the focus is on your dad’s health.

How Does It Differ From Remote Patient Monitoring?

With remote patient monitoring, devices that allow video chats are set up. Your dad has a virtual nurse or home health care professional on a video chat with him. A call may be used to check on his health or make sure he has ample opportunities for social engagement.

Your dad receives devices to help him take his vital signs. He connects to an app to record and share the information with remote patient monitoring nurses. He and other family members learn how to use them. Each day, he’ll record his vitals for a nurse assigned to him to retrieve and look at. If medical attention is needed, the nurse lets you know.

The goal of remote patient monitoring is to keep your dad from returning to the hospital. With a nurse working with his doctors, your dad has people looking after him every day, even if he’s in the comfort of his own home. Schedule it by calling a remote patient monitoring and virtual caregiving agency.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Virtual Caregiving  in Golden Beach, FL please contact the caring staff at Specialized Nursing Services today. (305) 652-2799