‘The Silver Tsunami Is Coming’: Inside the Quest to Help Seniors Age at Home
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth and at-home devices. But are they here to stay?
By Ruth Reader
This story is part of Home Bound, a series that examines Americans’ fraught relationship with their homes — and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hit the reset button. Read more here.
Rob Gorski’s grandmother was an independent woman. She lived alone in Youngstown, Ohio, far from the city center. When her memory started failing, he decided to move her into a nursing home near him. He says one of the main reasons was because she struggled with her medication.
“She couldn’t keep them straight. She knew what they were, but she would sometimes confuse a.m. with p.m. and think she took them when she didn’t — common things,” he says. The transition to a nursing home was difficult for her, he wrote in his blog. She didn’t know where she was or how she had gotten there. Six months after moving in, she died.
Since then, Gorski has started using a smart medication management system called Hero for himself. He takes a combination of treatments for depression, cholesterol management, and pain, as well as an assortment of vitamins. The device…
