THE ROLE OF HOME SERVICE AND TECHNOLOGY IN HOME CARE FOR FRAIL OLDER ADULTS IN METROPOLITAN BEIJING

摘要

The Pinetree Care Group, established in 2004, aims to provide restorative healthcare services for community-dwelling frail Chinese seniors. As the need of the oldest old and frail subset has increasingly become more complex, we have expanded our services to provide home visits by professional caregivers in urban and suburban parts of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guandong provinces. Geriatric services have been integrated since 2013 under the supervision of Department of Geriatrics at PUMC Hospital, a model of continuous home care for seniors. Application of the computer-based digital technology (companion robot) called “Little Fish at Home (a.k.a. iNemo)” that provides high-resolution audio/video remote connection between caregivers and patient/family/staff members at patient’s home has made remote geriatric consultation possible, which will be demonstrated during the presentation. We continue to optimize its operation and expand this model to serve seniors in other parts of China, especially in remote areas where resources are scarce.