Tag Archive for: aging in place

Aging in America 2013: conference report

Now Available: Joop Koopman’s, report for Bayard Presse on the annual conference of the American Society on Aging, March 12-15th in Chicago.

Commentary on presentations by: Aging in Place Technology Watch’s Laurie Orlov, gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, Mary Furlong’s What’s Next Summit preceding ASA, AARP, Scott Collins of Link-age Connect, Caring.com and Louis Tenenbaum.

Technologies: Care Innovations, GrandCare Systems and Philips.

Communities: On Lok Lifeways, Avenidas (virtual).

“The reality remains startling: between 2010 and 2050 the US population of 65 and older will have doubled to close to 80M. There are 40M Americans over 65 today; already there are 5M people older than 85, half of whom are still at home and almost half of whom suffer from some form of dementia. Worldwide, 15 percent of the population is 65-plus—a figure that will increase exponentially. Nearly 40 percent of the developed world will be over 55 by 2050.”

System Comp TRANS HR03-13

… “Key players in the realm of software and hardware that are making Aging-in-Place a reality are, to name but a handful, are Philips’ Healthcare at Home (prominently present at ASA with a large display in the exhibit hall and through sponsorship of general sessions); CareInnovations, a partnership of General Electric and Intel—the partnership forged precisely because the Aging-in-Place market remains scattered and unfocused and thus hard to penetrate; and GrandCare Systems, whose VP of Business Development [Laura] Mitchell elaborated on a major deal with Saga in the UK, that country’s counterpart to AARP, for the sale and distribution of a computer-like device capable of comprehensive health, security, and movement monitoring in the home. The company is pursuing sales elsewhere in Europe as well…”

Joop Koopman is an experienced writer/journalist, with a background in Catholic media (as editor and publisher), baby boomer-oriented marketing, as well as public relations serving both commercial and non-profit clients and causes. He currently provides a stable of European magazines catering to the 50-plus audience with information on US marketing trends. He is fluent in Dutch and French.

GrandCare Systems: Winner, Finalist and Nominee

2013 Best Senior Living Awards Winner

GrandCare Systems was voted Most Innovative Senior Living Product

Best Senior Award 2013Seattle, WA – Feb. 20, 2013 – SeniorHomes.com, an online directory and resource for seniors and their families searching for senior care or senior housing, announces winners for the SeniorHomes.com 2013 Best Senior Living Awards, in the Websites, Blogs, and People categories..

The SeniorHomes.com 2013 Best Senior Living Awards is a program designed to identify the top resources, providers and organizations in a variety of senior living categories. A panel of 21 leading senior living industry experts has completed ratings for the finalists in each category , and winners have been identified based on cumulative average ratings.

Official Press Release
SeniorHomes.com

Other Consumer Resources Winners by category include:

 

WegoHealth 2012 Trailblazer Award Finalist

GrandCare’s VP of Business Development, Laura Mitchell has been chosen as 1 of 5, 2012 Trailblazer Award finalists

Laura Mitchell“Laura was a pioneer in the aging/technology space, starting in early 2005 with digital health technology leader, GrandCare Systems. Laura is one of the core founders whose initial role was to educate the market on the capabilities of technology and how it could help to improve caregiving, health, safety and self-care.”

Official Nomination

Nominated as the City of West Bend’s Growing Local Business of the month for March 2013

“The Department of Development implemented the Growing Local Business program to recognize businesses that are important to the community. GrandCare Systems is a business that most of the community has not likely heard of, but has a large international reach and is doing really advanced things. I was really impressed with GrandCare Systems ever since we met with you in December, and have selected GrandCare for Business of the Month for exactly that reason. I have followed you through our twitter page and have seen never ending positive accomplishments and awards from GrandCare.”

-Amanda Knack, Economic Development Specialist

Nick McLain, CEDIA – On Digital Home Health

Nick McLain has recently written a great article on entering the digital home health field. He covers not only the basic demographics and applications, but takes a moment to point out the challenges and need for integrators to really understand the health care industry.  He used industry experts: Laurie Orlov (Age in Place Technology Watch), GrandCare’s own, Laura Mitchell, and GrandCare partner, Tom Ardolf of Cybermation .

“This is more about understanding home health care and its industry than it is about understanding the technology, which most integrators can get pretty easily.” – Ardolf

Digital Home Health Continues Its Ascent –
But Is It Viable for the CE Industry?

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Nick McLain

Ed Thelen, 69, of Cold Spring is able to live in his apartment with the help of an integrated monitoring system marketed locally by Cybermation.
Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com

“You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger endorser of digital home health technology than Ed Thelen of Cold Spring, Minn.

That’s not how the 70-year-old originally felt when his daughter, who also acts as his caregiver, proposed getting such a system a year ago. “My first reaction was, ‘I don’t need anything like that,’” he says. “But she talked me into it, and I’m really glad she did. It’s absolutely wonderful.”

Thelen, who has Parkinson’s and diabetes, records his blood pressure and weight, and the results are sent to his doctor. The unit he uses, a Grandcare System, also has Skype capabilities so that Thelen can talk to and see his relatives, and in particular his grandchildren, often. “I can see them all the time now,” he says. “It helps me keep in close contact with everybody.”

Telehealth, digital home health, remote monitoring, aging in place, e-health, m-health — whatever you want to call it, the industry, which aims to deliver health care remotely through technology, is a burgeoning one. Laurie Orlov, an industry analyst and founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch, puts the size of the digital home health care industry at approximately $6-7 billion — and growing.”

…

Laura Mitchell, vice president of business development for Grandcare Systems, says many of her dealers lower the initial upfront cost of the equipment and instead spread it out over monthly fees. After the equipment is paid for, the monthly fees are pure profit.

Ardolf started offering digital home health products and services in 2010. After two years, he is so satisfied with it that he sold the low-voltage electronic portion of his business, and now Cybermation focuses exclusively on digital home health.

Read more at www.cedia.net/blog

Laura Mitchell Selected to Speak at The Annual Z-Wave Fall Summit

Digital Health Technology: Powered by Z-Wave

October 22-25 2012, Edison, NJ

In an economy where markets are drying up left and right, there’s one market that we can guarantee will only grow:  The Aging & Technology Industry.  Every day, 10,000 people turn 65 and this trend will continue for the next 20 years. These boomers are demanding a NEW and sustainable “AGING IN PLACE” model of care.

Delivered by a true integration expert, the solution combines standard protocol-driven ZWAVE technologies – complete with wireless tele-medicine, brain fitness and socialization features.  Laura will discuss the future of this booming industry, the players involved, the GrandCare Systems model and why ZWAVE plays an integral role.

The Annual Z-Wave Fall Summit event brings together Alliance members, press and technology representatives from around the world to learn more about the Z-Wave ecosystem and promote its market leadership. The Fall Summit will include the final training sessions of the year, as well as a tour of the Z-Wave Interoperability Lab, plenary presentations by noted industry analysts, and the Member/Press evening reception and awards.

Read more

Senior Care Products Magazine – someone to watch over me

An article written by Laura Mitchell and Gaytha Traynor, both founding members of GrandCare Systems, on Aging-in-Place Technologies has been featured in Senior Care Products’ Summer 2012 Publication. This article covers opportunities within the digital health and home monitoring industries for HME providers.

Three steps are highlighted in this article to aid providers in being successful within the new aging services market: Research the market, Study the technology and Follow the money.

Aging-in-Place Technology

The digital health and home monitoring industry offers new opportunities for HME providers.

“It is a well-known fact that most seniors wish to remain independent at home for as long as possible. A 2007 “Aging in Place in America” research study commissioned by Clarity and The EAR Foundation reported that senior citizens fear nursing homes more than death. According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), 90 percent of Baby Boomers indicated they want to age at home. This trend is timely, because as the aging population explodes Americans are realizing there won’t be enough care facilities or professional staff to fully support their numbers—not without some technological assistance.”

Take a look at the entire article at http://www.homecaremag.com

GrandCare Systems™ – May 2012 Software Tour

The recording of Thursday’s LIVE Software Demonstration is now available on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/yFShxGXTfOw

This software demonstration, covers system capabilities for in home use as well as a our caregiver menu and touch screen interface.

“GrandCare offers ‘peace of mind’ for the entire caregiving network, while giving the loved one independence, freedom and happiness.”

GrandCare Systems is considered a pioneer in the aging and technology industry. Available since 2006, GrandCare Systems combines digital health assessments, daily activity monitoring, medication management, smart home automation, and virtual communications for all ages into one easy, flexible and comprehensive solution!

Companies working in aging and technology band together

www.bizjournals.com
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal by Diana Samuels, Reporterh

If there is anyone who has a broad understanding of how companies are using technology to help improve the lives of seniors, it is Peter Radsliff.

Radsliff leads a nonprofit consortium of nearly 70 businesses that work in fields related to aging and technology, called the Aging Technology Alliance or AgeTek. I spoke with him about trends in the industry for a story in this week’s Business Journal.

The organization was founded in 2009, in an organic fashion. Radsliff said it all started when he spoke at a conference on technology and aging, and the CEO of GrandCare Systems [Charlie Hillman], a company in the space, was in the audience. The company got in touch with Radsliff and asked him to speak as part of a webinar [What is now the Aging and Technology Webinar]. But the day of the webinar, Radsliff finished his talk early. Left without a specific subject to speak about, he started reflecting on how hard business was during the recession.

“I just threw it out there, I said, ‘Would anybody be interested in doing any co-marketing, or sharing of best practices, or any other kind of back-scratching activity to help each other as small business people?'” he said. “The outpouring from them was phenomenal. It kind of set me aback actually.” Of course, then he also ended up running the organization.

“I realized, ‘Great, I now have another full-time job on top of my day job,” said Radsliff jokingly, who is also CEO of Los Altos-based Presto. The company makes a system that automatically prints out emails for seniors or others who don’t have a computers.

Radsliff said AgeTek aims to “look after the business needs of its members.” “We each try to help each other to do what the company needs,” he said. “That can be anywhere from facilitated access to other companies, it could just be just making relationships and finding synergies.”

An Overview of AARP’s Innovation@50+ program

Download

With Jeff Makowka,  Senior Strategic Advisor, Thought Leadership

In late 2010, AARP created a new group focused on Thought Leadership with the mission of exploring and establishing new ways in which AARP can achieve its social mission: “to improve the quality of life for all as they age”. The Innovation@50+ program is the group’s flagship campaign to engage both the investment and entrepreneurial communities to stimulate innovation to meet the needs and wants of people over 50.

Thursday, February 2nd @https://grandcaresystems.webex.com

 

Jeff Makowka

Jeff has over a decade of experience in strategic analysis, management consulting and market research. For over 5 years, he has been focused on the wants and needs of the 50+ both domestically and internationally.

As Senior Strategic Advisor in AARP’s newly formed Thought Leadership group, he supports AARP’s Innovation@50+ Program which aims to spark innovation and entrepreneurial activity across public and private sectors. Anchored by AARP’s social mission – to enhance the quality of life for all as we age – the program enlists the expertise of visionary aging & technology thinkers, and builds the business case for all sectors to collaborate on meeting the needs and wants of people over 50.

In Response to: Joe Coughlin’s It’s the Services Stupid”

I just read an extremely insightful blog entry called

It’s the Services Stupid! Transforming Old Age & New Technology Into Business Innovation

by one of my favorites in the industry, Joseph F Coughlin.

I have included a link to his blog entry below, but he basically starts out with “There is not a shortage of technology being developed for old age so why haven’t these gadgets flooded retail shelves or become a routine government procurement tantalizing contractors in the Fed’s Commerce Business Daily? President Bill Clinton’s advisor James Carville coined the phrase ‘it’s the economy stupid’ to capture what the 1992 American public was most concerned about – the economy. Today’s investors, technology researchers and the aging community need to see the promise of technology but understand what older people, families and payers really care about – complete service solutions that lead to improved outcomes in living.”
… this kind of thing has been on my mind these days…what are the stumbling blocks and what can we do to overcome them? Here is my list of just some initial hurdles that we need to get through in order to get to the point where Digital Home Health Technology & Services can easily be deployed in a retail situation or in a medical situation:
1. REIMBURSEMENT!!! Insurance providers and Medicare providers need to recognize telehealth & remote monitoring as worthwhile and cost-effective investments…they will save money. How many studies do we need to prove this is the case? In the same way that computers saved banks money (eventually, after the learning curves)….this will be a huge cost savings (not to mention, we simply don’t have the physical caregivers nor the brick and mortar to support the massive disruptive demographics)
2. Hardware costs need to come down!  Just like the early laptops and cell phones, the cost of the touchcomputers and bluetooth enabled telehealth devices are significant….mass adoption will drive these costs down and make the solutions more affordable to the software developers and end-users.
3. Acceptance of the public!  This will come with time…GrandCare has been in this market since Jan 2005 and the acceptance has already grown by leaps and bounds (maybe not as fast as we expected), but it’s coming around. People are starting to understand WHAT this is and HOW it can apply to their own lives.
4. Acceptance in the Long Term Care & In-Home Care industry. Again…we are getting there…moving there. It is changing from being viewed as competition to being viewed as a caregiving tool…but how do they best utilize and who should play that role? Plays into #5.
5. There is a new role that will be created for the person that can help implement the right technology into the right situation. Just like in the 90’s when a brand new job role emerged (IT)…there is a need for someone that has enough technical know-how, with a healthcare/caregiving background. This person would be responsible for helping a person transition from hospital to home or even to develop a care plan that married hands-on care along with technology…  I wrote about this new role in my white paper “Healing in Place”: Mitigating Hospital Readmissions Using Technology –
6. Business Models!! We need to create sufficient business models for in-home care providers, hospitals & Long Term Care Facilities. How do they charge? How should they monitor? How should they deploy? We need to define the exact process…in fact, I am working on defining this process at the moment for in-home care providers. What new roles they may need to hire, what an example charge could be and how they might utilize the socialization piece, perhaps add some in-home hands-on care and supplement with 24-7 monitoring.
Thanks again for your thoughtful post Dr. Coughlin!
-Laura Mitchell
GrandCare Systems
www.grandcare.com
reposted on http://www.grandcare.wordpress.com
Read the full blog entry here

GrandCare saved us over $230,000…

Carol Roberts with her mother Jean in Daytona Beach, FL

My name is Carol Roberts and I have been using the GrandCare System for my mother since February of 2006. In late 2005, my mom started experiencing Petit Mal Seizures during the night.  The after effect would be disorientation and confusion, which worried our family and her doctors.  We were advised that her only option was assisted living. Mom found that idea to be absolutely abhorrent. She was physically fit, mentally acute and a fiercely independent person. Mom was the one that found GrandCare Systems online back in late 2005 and we decided to give it a shot and see if it might help us to keep her home for a little bit longer, although we had no idea it would be 6+ years longer.

In February of 2006, 2 GrandCare team members flew into Daytona Beach to install the GrandCare System, a series of motion sensors, door sensors and action alert buttons.  It was so simple for me to log in from my home computer and view the motion graphs, and set up alert parameters.  I opted to receive alert phone calls if the front door opened during the night or if wandering motion was detected (a symptom of the seizures).  The GrandCare staff even volunteered to be “on call” for me if I was unable to take the phone call.

GrandCare has the ability to grow with you. We upgraded mom to an Interactive touchscreen and added the blood pressure device recently.  GrandCare has kept me on top of mom’s overall wellness.   I recently noticed that mom’s sleeping patterns were irregular, she was agitated and exhibiting signs of sundowners.  I took her vital charts and the motion graphs to the doctor consultation to figure out the problem.  Thanks to the information that GrandCare had collected, the doctor saw that the time frame of the changes was at the same time he had altered her medications.  He made a few changes and she started sleeping better, was in a better mood and was more mentally acute.

The GrandCare System saved our lives!  Mom got to keep her independence, I got to live my own life and with some “peace of mind”.  I am proud to report that 6 years later, we are still actively using and relying on our GrandCare System.   The average cost of assisted living in Daytona Beach is around $3200. The GrandCare System has already saved us about $230,000 and still counting.

Mom and I consider the folks at GrandCare as a part of our extended family. They truly care about us, the quality system they provide and are genuinely good people.  I highly recommend them and the GrandCare System.

Thanks,

Carol Roberts

Daytona Beach Florida

Watch the 2010 CBS Early Show Interview on Jean & Carol using GrandCare here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/05/earlyshow/leisure/gamesgadgetsgizmos/main6745504.shtml