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At last week’s National Council on Aging and the American Society on Aging's week-long conference in Chicago, a new wireless home monitoring system connecting caregivers to care receivers was officially announced.

BeClose—a Washington, DC-based company that we’ve mentioned in one of our blogs last year—announced the commercial launch of their aging-in-place product on Friday, March 19, during the conference. The aging conference was one of the largest gatherings of professionals from the fields of aging, healthcare, and education.

BeClose works as unobtrusive, wireless sensors placed throughout the home transmit information to its Web site, BeClose.com, where caregivers can log in to monitor daily activities of their loved ones. The real-time information can also be sent to handheld devices, like iPhones and Blackberrys, for mobile alerts and the ability to monitor from anywhere.

In a statement released at the conference by Liddy Manson, the company's president, BeClose allows aging family members to stay in their homes when they feel strongly about maintaining their independence.

“Most often the caregivers are immediate family members, and the caregivers that we talked to during our product testing phase want the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their loved ones are going through their daily routines successfully,” says Manson. “They want this knowledge without constantly intruding on their privacy or calling all the time.”

Dr. Mark Hanson, who heads the company’s product development endeavors, and is also one of the country's leading experts on wireless health and a frequent speaker on the subject of geriatric technology, adds, “unlike cumbersome pendants that rely on the elderly to activate them if something happens, the wireless sensors of BeClose provide hands free, continual information about activity in the home—staying in bed, using the bathroom, doors and windows or other personalized activities you choose to monitor.”

The sensors in the home will alert caregivers to unusual activity patterns and send real-time information to the caregivers. Dr. Hanson emphasized the importance of watching these overall aging trends and possible signs for intervention rather than waiting for a fall or major health event.

According to a recent report released by AARP and the National Alliance for Care Giving, about 30% of Americans are caregivers, spending about 19 hours a week providing care for an elderly parent or a loved one. Additionally, the fastest growing segment of the population, now at 40 million, is the group of individuals, aged 65 and over. And with the recent financial crisis and recession, much of the elderly population plan to stay in their homes longer, making aging in place a major trend that is creating high demand for solutions to meet the needs of this segment.
 
We haven’t trial-tested the BeClose system yet, but plan to do so in the future to give you our own personal thoughts on it. But if you’ve tried it, please share with us some of your comments and thoughts and we’ll post it in one of our upcoming blog postings.

You can learn more about the BeClose system here.