A tank of gasoline: $30
A fast food meal: $6.50
The ability to check such things as blood pressure and weight
easily and for free: Priceless.
That was the sentiment expressed by several senior citizens who
use the telemedicine monitoring units at the local senior centers.
The small, tabletop unit allows people to check such clinical data
as oxygen saturation, heart rate, blood pressure and weight.
“That machine is something,” Lefty Work of Bradford said. And he
should know.
Work, who has had open heart surgery, checked his blood pressure
one day. It was high.
“Of course I took it again and it was fine,” Work said.
But the fact that he knew how to monitor his blood pressure was
invaluable to him.
“I was happy to have it,” said Work, who is 84. “I was thankful
to have it.”
Cheri Sowash, RN and clinical supervisor for the McKean County
VNA & Hospice, explained that the information is transmitted
from the HomMed unit via phone lines to the VNA where it’s reviewed
by a nurse. If there’s a problem, the nurse either calls the
patient or the doctor – the patient approves ahead of time who
should be notified if there’s a possible problem.
Currently, the units are available at the six senior centers in
McKean County – Smethport, Kane, Eldred, Mount Jewett, Port
Allegany and Bradford. They are also available if a doctor
prescribes them for a patient to be monitored at home.
Harold Glover checks his blood pressure once a week at the
Greater Bradford Senior Activity Center.
“I did” have high blood pressure, he said. “Now, I don’t.”
The machines are user-friendly and free to use.
“The machine tells you everything,” Theodore Zamberlan said.
“Sit down, stand.”
All they have to do is swipe a card. The machine does the
rest.
“It’s like using an ATM,” said Shirley Reed of Eldred. “There’s
nothing to it.”
The machine also asks the person questions such as are you dizzy
and are you breathing the same as you did a week ago?
“It talks to us. We can talk back and it doesn’t ball you out,”
Reed said.
The unit allows the people to take control of their health,
Sowash said, especially when they can watch trends from month to
month.
“They ask really good questions,” Sowash said. “They say, ‘Tell
me what this means?'”
The response to the units, which have been in the senior centers
since the spring, has been good – sometimes there are lines to use
the equipment.
The units are in a location that allows the person privacy while
they are using the machine.
The unit gives people a peace of mind that they are doing OK. It
also alerts them to a problem that may require a visit to the
doctor.
“To get a sense of security for another day,” Work said.
Currently, there are 190 participants. Sowash expects that
number to increase with the two contests under way.
One contest awards money to the senior center with the most
participation, the other the senior center with the highest
recruits.
People of any age can come to the senior center to enroll in the
program. All they have to do is fill out a form that is sent to the
VNA. They then get a card and can come use the equipment any time
that senior center is open.
The new units are not only valuable for the patient, they are
also good for the health care professionals.
“The whole system allows us to keep in touch with people,” Jamie
Glover, RN, said. “It empowers them. Allows them to take charge of
their own health.”
“It’s a great sense of security for people,” Nicole Stark, RN,
said.
The units were made possible to McKean County residents through
a USDA Rural Development grant, which was announced last
December.
