Tag Archive for: Aging 2.0

Kiplinger Report Highlights grandCARE in new report

Technology Helps Seniors Remain at Home

A variety of gadgets help the elderly keep their independence and age in place.

By Sally Abrahms, From Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, March 2015

Most of us want to remain at home as we get older, but safety and health issues and social isolation can interfere with that plan. A growing number of seniors are turning to state-of-the-art digital tools — via smartphones, GPS, voice activation and sensors — that enable them to stay put indefinitely.

……By 2017, experts expect this market to reach $30 billion. “The aging-in-place technology field is exploding,” says gerontologist Katy Fike, who co-founded San Francisco-based Aging 2.0 in 2012 to advise start-ups geared to boomers and seniors…

 System Comp HR11-13Randall Schafer, 61, of Houston, Tex., uses his grandCARE system to Skype with his mother, 90. (She just pushes a button to videochat.) “My mom is in love with our dog, Daisy,” Schafer says. Her “face lights up” when she sees the schnauzer, he says.

Keeping in touch. You might be able to stay in your home, but you can get lonely. Technology can help you feel connected to friends and family — and sometimes even to medical professionals.

With an interactive touch screen from grandCARE Systems (www.grandcare.com, 262-338-6147), you can look at a photo of a grandson’s Halloween getup or a video replay of his baseball home run. You can listen to music, play word games, read the news or surf the Internet. No need to know how to use a computer

skype

Randall Schafer, 61, of Houston, Tex., uses his grandCARE system to Skype with his mother, 90. (She just pushes a button to videochat.) “My mom is in love with our dog, Daisy,” Schafer says. Her “face lights up” when she sees the schnauzer, he says.

An added feature: The system can transmit health data, from glucose and blood pressure to weight and oxygen readings. For example, a blood pressure cuff with a wireless Bluetooth medical device will record and relay the readings to caregivers…

Read the entire article here

grandCARE can be purchased for a loved one Here
Are you a professional care provider, medical provider or housing organization?  Contact grandCARE for volume purchasing options.

GrandCare WINS 1st place: Most pitches for post-discharge patient pilot

Health Data

GrandCare recently participated in the 2nd Annual “Pitch for Pilots” (P4P) live pitch in partnership with Aging2.0 at AgeTech West in Seattle.

10 innovative companies were selected to pitch for a pilot in front of hundreds of long term care and aging service providers. The P4P gives aging service providers an opportunity to get a jump-start down the road of strategic innovation and technology adoption.

All audience members had an opportunity to vote with bids, vying to be the organization that the innovator chose to pilot with.

GrandCare launched a new risk management program, focused on reducing unnecessary hospital readmissions by encouraging patient engagement, enhancing patient experience, thereby achieving better outcomes.

GrandCare was delighted to receive the award (tied for first place with innovator, Gerijoy) for most pilot requests.

GrandCare to PITCH and showcase at AgeTech West in Seattle

GrandCare has been selected as a “PITCH FOR PILOT” Candidate at the upcoming AgeTech West conference in Seattle.  GrandCare will be pitching a brand new product model designed for aging organizations to better manage patient chronic conditions, mitigate hospital readmission risks, successfully transition patients from hospital to home and adhere to true patient-centered care with GrandCare technology playing the centerpiece.

Dell Med Prompt

WHEN: Nov. 17-18, 2014 #syncinseattle

WHERE: Seattle, Washington Hyatt Olive 8 Downtown

IV. Live 2014 Pitch-for-Pilots, real-time voting by Holleran

Facilitator: Stephen Johnson, co-founder, Aging2.0 and partner, Generator Ventures

The 2nd Annual “Pitch for Pilots” (P4P) live pitch in partnership with Aging2.0 will provide the opportunity for 8-10 innovative companies to pitch in front of hundreds of long-term care providers. This year AgeTech is welcoming participation by start-ups as well as established companies with a new product launch. The P4P gives aging service providers an opportunity to get a jump-start down the road of strategic innovation and technology adoption.

More info on the conference:

This year’s conference will explore how technology can better synchronize aging services with consumer desires to transform the aging “user experience” for older adults and aging service providers alike.

Older adults will be directly involved in providing feedback and experiences on what they find appealing and empowering about various technologies – and what’s not – through interactive forums and “sync-ups.” Aging service providers will also give accounts of their experience in piloting new technologies to better meet older adult needs and desires.

Leaders in aging technology from the Seattle-based companies like Microsoft and A Place for Mom, as well as Google, Panasonic, Intel, Care Innovations, Caremerge, LivWell Health and several aging service providers will be addressing the bigger picture of how innovation and technology will continue to revolutionize services by better responding to consumer preferences and focusing on the aging experience.

The bottom line is that norms have changed; technology innovation offers real opportunities for better, more person-centered and efficient care and services for older adults. Service providers, payers and policy makers need to think differently about how care is provided, innovative work-processes and modify programs to take advantage of what technology has to offer in leveraging staff and improving service to sync with consumer needs and desires.

GrandCare slated to speak and showcase Toshiba GrandCare at What’s Next Boomer Summit…

Boomer Summit

Thursday, March 13
Manchester Grand Hyatt – San Diego

The What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, hosted by Mary Furlong and Associates, is an annual event that brings together the country’s top businesses and organizations that are focused on the boomer and beyond marketplace. Whether you are just getting started with your boomer business or looking to scale, this is where deals get done.

Featured Sessions:

11:30 am – 12:10 pm
Introducing What’s Next Boomer Summit’s very FIRST “Speed Dealing” networking session.

Organized by Katy Fike, Aging 2.0, Laura Mitchell, GrandCare, and Peter Radsliff of Presto Services Inc.

Are you an entrepreneur/vendor looking for investors, distribution partners and/or media coverage?
Are you an organization looking to tap into external boomer innovation technologies?
Are you an investor looking for deal flow?
Are you a writer looking to for story-worthy innovations?
Are you sick of relying on serendipity to drive your networking at conferences?

The ultimate speed networking session to pair innovators with funding partners, providers with enabling boomer products and writers with fresh and interesting content. This structured “Speed Dealing” will facilitate short and meaningful conversations between mutually interested organizations, looking to establish collaborative relationships. Space is limited! Sign up on-site for this session at the Registration desk! Bring your business cards and elevator pitch!

12:15 pm – 1:25 pm
Lunch With The Experts

1:30-2:10pm
NEW in 2014! BECOME A GROWTH HACKER IN YOUR ORGANIZATION

In this first ever workshop featuring “Reverse Mentors,” participants will learn how to hack their way through brand building, lead generation and customer engagement. With a focus on building brand and PR presence in the digital marketplace, marketers in housing, home care, caregiving and related services will take away hot tips to hack their way to the top of their industry.

MODERATOR: Lisa Price, Executive Director of Marketing, Zillner: LisaP@zillner.com

Laura Mitchell, VP Business Development, GrandCare Systems: laura@grandcare.com
Kevin Bracken, CEO, Gymsurfing: kevin@speakeasy.com
Jeh Kazimi, Founder & CEO, Breezie: jeh@breezie.com

More information online at BoomerSummit.com

GrandCare featured on Caring.com

The Digital Caregiver

Being “Wired” Never Felt So Reassuring

By Melanie Haiken, Caring.com senior editor

One of the most obvious ways advances in digital technology are changing caregiving is in the use of smartphones. And Caring.com user data shows that half of all caregivers own an iPhone and use it for research and connectivity.

Caregivers aren’t just posting pictures of their dogs and kids, though — they’re using the Web, smartphone apps, and other digital services to help them with the often overwhelming tasks of caregiving. And they need that help — in a recent study, a whopping 88 percent of boomer caregivers reported that caregiving had turned out to be much harder than they expected. In a study titled Retirement Care Planning: The Middle-Income Boomer Perspective, 57 percent of the approximately 500 boomers surveyed said caregiving took more emotional strength and 52 percent said it took more time than they’d expected. Caregiving, they said, was also costing them more financially and causing more stress on their health and relationships than they’d anticipated.

Monitoring remotely is getting easier than ever.

Change has also come to the more established area of home monitoring. “New sensor technologies and great design are bringing new capabilities and sensibilities to the markets of home monitoring and Personal Emergency Response devices,” says Fike. GrandCare, a longterm player in the field, now takes advantage of digital innovations to provide a sophisticated interactive interface in addition to more traditional features such as activity monitoring, alerts, and mediation management. Caregivers and their loved ones can use GrandCare’s multimedia communication interface to share photos, chat via video, and even play games in addition to more traditional home care monitoring.

Read the full article at http://www.caring.com/articles/the-digital-caregiver

Technology and Its Benefits to Helping Adult Children, Caregivers and Seniors Live Better Lives

We wanted to share another great blog article by Mark Phillips, Product Manager at GE Healthcare IT.

Can Technology Help Adult Children, Caregivers and Seniors Live Better Lives?

Mark Phillips

Every day the aging population is growing at a significant rate, and at the same time, technology is taking off at a remarkable pace. So why not combine the two to help adult children take care of their aging loved ones without sacrificing their independence?   He has successfully addressed the key needs the Aging and Technology industry faces and has defined them as below:

      • Support seniors in living their absolute best life where they want to live it!
      • Keep families and caregivers connected, even across long distances
      • Support and promote socialization
      • Promote safety and peace of mind
      • Assist with activities of daily living
      • Help coordinate the myriad of care activities
      • Enable easy interaction with community services and businesses
      • Are easy to setup, intuitive, and easy to use
      • Are affordable to acquire and to keep

Phillips goes on to describe the issues that caregivers and their aging loved ones face and then gives some viable techology solutions as a vehicle to provide better, individualized, and more efficient care. GrandCare is mentioned as a stand out solution “these guys are the blaze, the trail pioneers in the market…”  GrandCare’s VP of Business Development, Laura Mitchell, is described by Mark as “a tireless champion for aging in place technology and who has delivered many blogs and webinars to help spread the word”.

Check out Mark Phillip’s complete blog Here.