GE-Intel Release Tablet to Improve Seniors Health
Care Innovations Connect, a joint venture between Intel and GE, announced a new product to address social isolation in older adults and provide caregivers the ability to monitor the changing needs of seniors.
The product comes as a result of ten years of in depth research and offers a range of wellness surveys, brain fitness games, medication compliance reminders, and simple social networking tools for seniors to help them “go digital” and proactively engage in their physical, social and mental health.
“Research has shown that loneliness, as a health risk factor, is twice as detrimental as being obese, and equal to the risk of smoking cigarettes and alcoholism,” said Louis Burns, chief executive officer of Care Innovations. “With Connect, we’re helping senior service providers overcome this issue by helping them identify major health deterioration in their members, while enabling seniors to stay engaged and live more socially connected lives.”
The Connect system includes both an in-home digital device for seniors and an online portal where the professional caregiver can customize content for each member. By giving staff a tool to quickly assess individual wellness, Connect drives operational efficiency and improves quality of service with proactive, consistent, tailored care.
Recent data shows that one of the biggest obstacles to successful care in senior living communities is members’ lack of information about available social services and the inability to easily socialize with others. Connect overcomes this obstacle by proactively sharing information about available services, enabling seniors to connect with one another and build communities. In addition, innovative software lets professional caregivers customize wellness surveys for seniors so that they can proactively identify potential issues.
“Technology is one of LeadingAge’s Five Big Ideas to help empower people to live fully as they age” said Larry Minnix, president and chief executive officer of LeadingAge, an association of 5,400 not-for-profit organizations dedicated to expanding the world of possibilities for aging. “Through collaborations between technology developers, aging services providers, and, most importantly, the seniors that we serve, together we can develop innovative technology solutions and deliver them into the homes of older adults to help them to maintain their health, happiness and independence.
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Category: Senior Housing, Technology
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This is great news, seeing the big giants like GE & Intel embracing and realizing the value of socialization, reminders and cognition (being equally important to the wellness & ADL monitoring). QuietCare was bleeding edge, I would venture to say they were the first ones to really get out there with their Activity of Daily Living remote monitoring system back in 2005. GrandCare & HealthSense were not far behind. The three of us watched each other, paved roads for one another and learned from each other. I am so glad that QuietCare is being used in this venture, it really is a great system. GrandCare founder, Charlie Hillman, was so visionary back in 2005 – being the first to combine socialization/cognition along with ADL monitoring into one system. Funny thing is, even I (at the time) didn’t “get it” – didn’t see why it would be so important to have that “GrandCare Communication Station”, which of course has turned into the interactive touchscreen/video chat… Think of how far we all have come since 2005, especially with all of the new players in this market and the new focus to the digital home health field. I see great things happening every day in this industry and look forward to what the future will bring…
I also think this is a wonderful idea and great news, but unfortunately news like this will probably take years to trickle down from nursing homes to actual homes. Also, I assume because the technology is just so new, there is no price mention so I think one can assume that this technology might not be priced for actual homes and really meant for facilites. Its a shame really, but I do hope that more advances like do become avaiable — especially for people like myself who have become unwitting caregivers for their parents and inlaws. For now, we all make do with the best technology we have: security system, landline phones, and I even purchased these senior specific prepaid phones from Tracfone for my mom and mother-in-law so we could keep in touch wherever the needed and made sure it came with a 911 locating feature. Until this type of technology really expands itself, I guess people like myself will have to continue doing what they do.