Video: Visiting Nurses Connect With Middletown Seniors in Cyberspace to Monitor Health and Wellness

You sit down, slip your arm into that padded cuff, watch for numbers on a screen, check a chart and hope to find yourself in the healthy range. It's a common scene at most retail pharmacies these days.

What many locals don't realize is that a similar station at the has actual live nurses monitoring those numbers remotely in real-time just a few miles away, analyzing the data and, if need be, getting in touch with patients for anything that causes alarm or suggests a follow-up with a doctor if needed.

Susan Dugan, the special projects manager of the Visiting Nurse Services of Newport & Bristol Counties, oversees the team of nurses from the Health and Wellness Center in Newport. They look at the data coming in and compare it against previous weeks, based on the patient's health condition tracked in the files in front of them.

If they see cause for alarm, such as an unusual blood pressure elevation or possible early symptoms of stroke, for example, they will call the Middletown Senior Center and ask to immediately speak with that patient. If the patient has already left, they'll try to catch them at home or by their cell phone, Dugan explained.

"Ultimately, we all want the seniors to be healthy," Dugan said of the program. "The readings are transmitted to our health and wellness office which are monitored by nurses four days a week. Over time we get a really good picture of how these individuals are, related to their health and disease management.”

She continued, "Many of the patients have cardiac disease or respiratory disease, or some of them don’t have chronic disease and just want to keep an eye on their health status."

She recalled how in the earlier weeks of its launch, the Visiting Nurses back at the Newport office saw data come across from a patient at the Middletown Senior Center that indicated a possible stroke coming on. They quickly advised the patient to see a doctor immediately. That doctor adjusted the patient's high blood pressure medication and a potentially debilitating stroke was avoided, Dugan said.

"The seniors are able to write down and track their own information but here you have another set of eyes, a trained medical professional, who can intervene," she said.

When a senior sits down at the Honeywell Home Med computerized device, besides taking a blood pressure reading, the device also asks a series of "yes" or "no" health-related diagnostic questions.

Many of the Middletown seniors who have become familiar and comfortable with the technology check their vital signs weekly, said Dugan. Once they're signed up, they can check their blood pressure up to two times each week and may access the machine whenever the Senior Center is open.

The service is free of charge and open to all seniors throughout Aquidneck Island.

The Middletown Senior Center was the first senior center in Rhode Island to start up such a program, made possible by a grant from the Champlin Foundation in June of 2010, according to Middletown Senior Center Executive Director Arleen Kaull. The Newport County Fund continues to fund the Visiting Nurses' support for the program so that that there's no cost to seniors, she said.

"What an honor it was to be selected out of all the senior centers in Rhode Island," Kaull said. "It's wonderful for our center and it's good for seniors to live a healthier lifestyle."

Kaull and Middletown Senior Center staff and volunteers work to encourage more participation among their seniors who attend the center daily for lunches and various activities. They also encourage more seniors outside Middletown to utilize the free technology and services, as it's available to all seniors in Newport County, Kaull said.

Twice each month, the Middletown Senior Center and the Visiting Nurses also offer free blood pressure clinics for seniors, which also includes an orientation for those who wish to take part in the remote blood pressure monitoring program. Seniors unable to attend may also call the Middletown Senior Center for information or assistance on signing up or to learning how to use the device.

The next Visiting Nurses blood pressure clinic at the Middletown Senior Center is scheduled for 11 a.m. to noon on Tuesday April 26.

For more information about the monthly blood pressure clinics or to sign up for the instant blood pressure monitoring program, please contact Susan Dugan at the Visiting Nurse Services of Newport County, 21 Chapel St., Newport, at 401-682-2100 ext. 635.