Using a ‘Nanny Cam’ to Safeguard My Mother’s Health

CCTV camerasA couple of years ago, I attended a talk at The Oxford Institute of Population Ageing on “Speculative Design.” A colleague who worked in the area of digital health walked us through the sorts of products the pharmaceutical sector was developing to help older people manage their medical needs without having to visit a doctor.

As I sat through my colleague’s presentation, I kept envisioning my own mother – then 86 – trying to grapple with the remotely activated medicine dispenser he was describing. It lit up in different hues to cue the patient when it was time for new meds.

My own mother grew up during the Depression. Electricity remains a rather novel concept for her, let alone anything digitised. “No way,” I thought to myself at the time. “Not my mother.”

Little did I know then that two years later, the very sort of “aging in place” technology my colleague was describing would enable my family  to guarantee the safety of my mother in her home.

Read the rest of this blog over on the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing…

Image: CCTV Cameras by Gary Pierce via Pixabay

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