Across the rich world around half of covid-19 deaths have been in care homes. Countries need to radically rethink how they care for their elderly—and some innovative solutions are on offer.

COMMENTARY:

This video has a lot of information that would be of help to anyone who has a spouse or parent who is aging, especially if their frailty includes dementia. There were several good, general points.

As hard as it is to get old, it is even harder to be a caretaker of someone whose aging includes memory loss. Hired caretakers burn out at a high rate. The video highlighted Indonesia as a location that is compassionate, and gives quality care at about half the cost in developed countries.

The percentage of the elderly population needing care may well be 50% in 2050. I would not have guessed it, but the video asserts that 50% of individuals over 65 years of age need some help.

It is much better to stay at home, and medical sensor technology is making this increasingly possible. AI would be able to detect changes in a person’s routine that could be flagged.

Of course, it is much better to stay healthy longer. My posting “growing old” addresses this.

–Dr. C.