In Australia, workforce shortages pose a significant challenge to the residential aged care industry.
Senior staff retiring, and the shrinking pool of young talent to draw from worsen an already troublesome workforce shortage problem.
Furthermore, the growing elderly population places an additional strain on the overburdened infrastructure of aged care facilities.
In the past decade, there has been a 40% increase in the number of aged care residents aged 90 and over. The increasing age of residents, combined with their diverse healthcare needs, calls for specialised skills that residential care facilities are ill-equipped for.
As age increases, so does the loss of cognitive ability and risk of dementia. Residents suffering from dementia require specialised care and constant monitoring which calls for skills that many existing workers do not possess.
The lack of training makes current employees (even senior staff) doubt their level of competence in performing the work required of them.
Seniors are also at a higher risk of falling ill and contracting non-communicable illnesses like hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular problems. This makes it necessary to monitor their vital signs, like blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and body temperature.
But despite caregivers’ altruism and love for their job, they don’t have the time to frequently visit a patient’s bedside.
A big reason for this is the administrative work, including the unrelenting demands of record-keeping that seem to redefine aged care.
The lack of upskilling opportunities, high work pressure and an overload of administrative duties can potentially sap the morale of workers, leading to a decrease in productivity and an increase in staff turnover.
Aged care staffing solutions that don’t account for these problems will fail.
eazense Powered by SOFIHUB gives us hope. It is a ground-breaking radar sensor technology offering passive monitoring of residents and real-time fall detection.
This monitoring system does not require residents to wear or do anything. It monitors them non-intrusively (without the use of cameras) and performs a wide range of functions like:
- Monitoring vital parameters
- Constantly tracking body position
- Monitoring the presence of people in a room and detecting if the person is breathing.
When it detects anomalies, it notifies carers, allowing them to respond immediately. Anomalies include vital parameters that have breached thresholds in either direction, a resident who suffers a fall, seniors who aren’t breathing or haven’t returned to their beds, and other situations that demand a worker’s immediate attention.
eazense provides residents with security while preserving their independence and privacy.
For caregivers, it reduces the number of unnecessary visits, resulting in significantly lower healthcare costs.
eazense provides carers with an opportunity to streamline tasks, finish pending record keeping and other administrative tasks and make more efficient use of their time.
Caregivers can also use the extra time to upskill themselves and engage in more productive work, which can make them feel happier and more fulfilled.
Aged care staffing solutions like eazense allow residential facilities to provide care when it is most needed. This improves the productivity of workers, resulting in happier employees and lower attrition.
Visit SOFIHUB to know more about eazense.