By Sloane Airey
Covid-19 was especially hard for the memory care sector, but one of the pandemic’s silver linings has been how it has ushered in use of new and promising technology.
Today, tech including AI promises to change the senior living industry in ways that were not possible only a few years ago. Nearly half of the senior living executives who responded to a recent survey from Memory Care Business’ sister publication Senior Housing News indicated they were planning to ramp up technology budgets by 25% in 2024.
Operators including Cypress Living and Maplewood are forging ahead in memory care by wielding new tech, and what they are finding as a result may provide a blueprint for other operators doing so in the future.
Rise of AI
More than 60% of SHN survey respondents also expressed interest in how machines programmed to think like humans can improve the health and well-being of their human residents.
Joe Velderman, VP of innovation at Florida-based senior living center Cypress Living explained that AI has “big potential for aging services and memory care” because of its ability to automate some of staff’s administrative work so they can focus on care tasks.
Additionally, Velderman is one of many executives interested in how machine learning can go beyond what staff can do by analyzing huge amounts of data to “provide insights that humans may not even think to ask.”
Chicago-based life plan community operator Vi is one facility experimenting with sensors to catch a potential fall before it happens.
“Vi is piloting a solution at one of our Care Centers that uses artificial intelligence and machine vision to identify someone’s intent to get out of a bed or chair seconds before they actually do,” explained Tony Galvan Jr., Vi’s assistant vice president of living well, in a recent interview with MCB.
Another use for AI in memory care could be improving how caretakers access and use residents’ electronic health records.
Brian Geyser is the Vice President of Health & Wellness of Connecticut-based senior living center Maplewood where he told SHN that AI integrated into electronic health records (EHRs) could mean “operators better understand health trends in residents and should enable staff to be more effective and efficient in caring for residents.”
Currently, EHR providers are working with data science companies to pilot AI services like automatically extracting data like provider notes from records.
Wearables still hot
Technology can be as complicated as AI or as foundational as the very design of memory care facilities, but it can also be as simple as something residents wear to help staff find them or entertain them.
Geyser said that depending on residents’ needs, Maplewood can now outfit people with emergency wearable technology that shares residents’ locations, biometrics, alerts to wandering and falls with staff, and allows for two-way voice communication. This combined with machine learning to detect falls means more insights for staff and more privacy for residents.
“Until now, the only way we could know if a resident was safe in their apartment was to physically check on them at regular intervals. This method is disruptive to the resident and operationally challenging for staff,” said Geyser. But with wearables and AI-assisted technology, staff can monitor residents remotely and also figure out the best staffing patterns to serve them.
Maplewood also uses “Augi,” a tech platform developed in tandem with Inspiren, Inc. to glean data from in-room sensors and camera technology and passively monitor memory care residents.
Still, experts caution that senior care providers be thoughtful with what technology to integrate into their practices – and how much. Part of the issue is that there are many tech solutions on the market, and operators should be wary of filling their communities with devices that staff cannot easily train on.
“Adding more and more tech pointy solutions that are not integrated creates complexity and can cause staff to experience tech overload,” noted Geyser.
Galvan of Vi also added that this saturation means technology companies can expect senior care facilities to ask them to justify why their tech is worth adding to the pile their staff already uses.
“Senior living providers want to feel confident that the time, effort, and financial resources associated with implementing and sustaining technology, will move the needle on resident well-being and outcomes associated with effective care,” he said.
One example Galvan cited was that Vi will be rolling out more virtual reality (VR) programs this year as the headsets have grown less “bulky”, and research indicated that VR has now been shown to improve some residents’ well-being.
‘Future is bright for technology in memory care’
Overall, Galvan said that due diligence is critical when choosing tech for senior care settings, but that, “the future is bright for technology in memory care settings. It’s an area that should be embraced and seen as key to overall operator success.”
All the experts who spoke with SHN noted that no matter how helpful AI, wearables, and even robots can be to their residents, cost can be a significant barrier to adopting new technology. This is especially true considering that installing fast wi-fi and other IT infrastructure needed for most of this tech adds up.
But Geyser with Maplewood is optimistic, noting that “tech-enabled memory care” could help attract new residents, keep residents safer and healthier, and stabilize costs like staffing. He told SHN, “while technology can certainly add expense into the equation, one goal of any technology deployment is to reduce overall costs.”
Velderman argued the cost of investing in AI, wearables, and other tech is especially worth it for senior living centers that care for people with dementia because the residents will always need advanced levels of safety and security systems. This, he says, means memory care is the “least likely to be disrupted by emerging at-home models” such as the federal government’s new model.
