Taxation & Estate Planning

Has your mom taken her medication today? Did the nurse show up at your dad's on time? Did your aunt fall?  If you live next door or down the street, you can easily find this information. But if you are at the other end of the state or across the country it's more difficult to know without making 37 phone calls a day.

A recent article in the New York Times offers some suggestions of products and services to help keep an eye on your loved ones even though you are far away.

Some of the products are computerized pill dispensers, motion detectors to tell if someone hasn't gotten out of bed, or if the outside door has opened, and even electronic questionnaires which ask the elder how they are feeling  that day and record their blood pressure and weight.  This information can be monitored by the children, and by nurses who can be on alert for changes in behavior or health status.

The article also talks about how geriatric care managers can be a great resource for helping with some of the tasks of taking care aging parents.