Health and medical aids

Medical Panic Alarms

A medical alert panic button or medical alarm is an electronic device worn on a bracelet or neck-lace as part of a medical alert system. When pressed, it sends a wireless signal to a home console which dials alarm monitoring staff and alerts them of an emergency condition. Depending on the severity of the situation, alarm monitoring staff will summon friends, family, or emergency services. A panic button alarm is a self-contained electronic device powered by an internal long-life battery, typically Waterproof and designed to be shock resistant and highly durable.

Ontario wide:
Bell Medical Alert: www.bell.ca/Smart-Home/Medical-Alert?prov=ON&lang=en. Bell offers both At Home and On the Go monitoring.

Philips Life Line: www.lifeline.ca/en/. Philips offers an aray of Medical Alert technology for both at home and on the go, including fall detection technology.

Life Assure: www.lifeassure.com/. Life Assure offers both at home and on the go technology with options available for those who don’t have a landline.

Medi-Call: http://medi-call.ca/. Options to connect only with care givers (and 911 if no response) or to get connected directly with a professional monitoring center.

Direct Alert: https://directalert.ca/. At home and On the Go coverage including fall detection.

Local options: There are many more options available specific to your part of the province. Speak with your DSO Housing Navigator for a list.

Medication Dispensing

Low Tech:
Pill Organizer - Self Loading – Person and/or caregivers load the Doscet.

Blister Pack:
A “blister pack” is a special method of packing medications, where each dose of medication is placed in a small plastic bubble and backed by a sheet of foil. Medications are organized by day, usually for up to a week at a time. Prepared by the pharmacy. (Pros: clearly colour coded for times)

Medi-Strip:
Medications come in a strip filled from 1 to 28 days and each packet on the strips reminds the patient of the day, date and time to take the medication. Prepared by the pharmacy (pros: easy to take what is needed for ‘on the go’).

Higher Tech:
Auto Pill Dispensing: An automatic pill dispenser is an effective medication management solution that is designed to improve medication adherence to levels over 90%. They are engineered with ease-of-use in mind and typically features friendly and simple interfaces. They make it easy to manage even complex medication regimens. Some even offer monitoring services.

Ontario Wide:
LiveFine Automatic Pill Dispenser - Available at Amazon.ca. 28 day electronic medication organizer with Alarm Reminders, Flashing Light and Safety Lock. (Dispenses prescriptions up to 6 times / day)

GMS Med-e-lert 28 day automatic pill dispenser – Available at Amazon.ca. 28 day electronic medication organizer. Program up to 6 alarms per day.

Philips Life Line - www.lifeline.ca/en/shop-lifeline/health-solutions/medication-dispensing-service. Offers 24 hour monitoring providing daily reminders and instructions. Medication is dispensed when button is pressed.

Local Options:
There are many more options available specific to your part of the province. Speak with your DSO Housing Navigator for a list.

Medical monitoring

There are many different medical technology solutions that run through Blue Tooth and allows the product to share the results with a smartphone, computer, etc. These results can then be sent to a physician or other medical practitioner automatically or with prompting from the individual or caregiver.

Blood Pressure Monitor: The most high-tech blood pressure monitors connect to a smart device (such as a phone or tablet) via Bluetooth and record results in an app.

The features of these apps vary depending on the manufacturer of the monitor, but they generally give you much more in-depth analytics and tracking than an average blood pressure monitor.

Some apps even allow you to send your results directly to a medical professional, or upload them to your digitized medical records.

Glucose Monitor: By integrating your blood glucose meter with a smartphone app you can simplify the management of your diabetes. Blood glucose results captured throughout the day can be automatically synced and logged. And over time, your results may create meaningful insights into how your activities affect your blood glucose levels, which can help improve the understanding of your diabetes. All the while being on the same platform you use for so many other aspects of your life – your smartphone!

Activity Level and Heart Rate Monitoring: Several of the wearable technologies (Like apple smart watch, Garmin, Fitbit, Etc.) can track your activity level as well as your heartrate. Heartrate sensors can be worn on the wrist or for a more accurate reading, a chest strap is available for many brands.

Medical Appointments:

Apps: There are several calendar and appointment reminder apps that can record and remind you of your appointments. Some of these can even be managed on a caregivers calendar and forwarded to the focus persons calendar as a reminder.

Many medical offices are now using text reminders as well to help keep people from missing their appointments.

Daily exercise: There are both hardware and apps that will help you to keep you on track with your fitness goals. Activity trackers (as reviewed above such as Fitbit, etc.) can track you activity, calories burned, etc. This can then be reviewed on a regular basis.

Examples:
Hardware: Fitbit, Garnum, Misfit.
Apps: iHealth, Samsung Health, Workout apps.