Tag Archive for: aging in place

1-27-11 Thursday GrandCare Webinar- Stacey Pierce from The Oaks speaks

WHEN: Thursday January 27th, 2pm EDT (1p CT).
WHERE: http://my.dimdim.com/grandcare
WHAT: Stacey Pierce from the Oaks speaks on “Innovative in-home care”

Topic Description:
Caregiving With A Side of Technology
We are caregivers, first and foremost, and with technology we are able to enhance what we can offer to people desiring to stay in their homes. Technology can be an important part of the caregiving puzzle; it takes time and a continued effort on our part, as industry leaders, to continue to provide options to those in need.

About Stacey Pierce:
Stacey is a Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant, working with patients since 1996. In 2007, she joined The Oaks Staff as Director of Senior Solutions, a new home service business for their community. While successfully growing the Senior Solution business, their company recognized the impact that technology could have, and would have, on helping seniors stay at home longer while giving both the senior and the family peace of mind. With both her technology expertise and therapy background, she has the opportunity to play an active role in aging people in place around South Carolina.

Webinar Objectives:
1. Learn to prioritize
2. Enhance services with technology
3. Lead the industry with new innovations

Upcoming Events:

NAPGCM- – May 12-15, 2011 | Sheraton New Orleans Hotel | New Orleans, LA
AgeTek Discounts apply: http://www.caremanager.org/calendar.cfm

1-20-11 Webinar- Jane Regan from Bath Packs speaks

WHEN: Thursday January 20th, 2pm EDT (1p CT).
WHERE: http://my.dimdim.com/grandcare
WHAT: Jane Regan from Bath Packs speaks on Aging Gracefully- Stylish and Safe Barrier Free Bath Design

Topic Description:
This webinar will inform you on how to provide transitional comfort from Boomer to Senior living. Jane will examine and discuss safe bath design details. Also, what does it mean to be certified for Aging In Place Design? And what is CAPS certification? These questions and more will be answered during this informational and educational webinar.

About Jane Regan:
Jane Regan is the CEO of HB Building and Design in Northern California, a successful design/build general contracting firm specializing in a universal design practices, Green Building and Design for Aging In Place. In January 2011, Jane is launching a new business, “Bath Packs Designed On Line, Installed On Time™, a complete bath remodel using an interactive web site.
Jane is certified for Design for Aging In Place, and has and she has a vast knowledge of design to serve those aging independently.

Upcoming Events:

NAPGCM- – May 12-15, 2011 | Sheraton New Orleans Hotel | New Orleans, LA
AgeTek Discounts apply: http://www.caremanager.org/calendar.cfm

GrandCare Systems – Scheduled to Speak & Exhibit at 2nd Annual Digital Health Summit at CES

West Bend, WI, 2010 – GrandCare Systems is scheduled to exhibit in the Aging Technology Alliance Pavilion (AgeTek) and speak in the Silvers Summit at the 2011 International CES on January 7, 2011 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, LVCC North Hall, BOOTH 2812.

The one–day Digital Health & Silvers Summit and exhibition of more than 65 companies will bring together healthcare industry executives developers, manufacturers, buyers, distributors, service providers, academicians, and more, to examine the fast-growing digital health industry, and take a look at the trends and technologies leading the way and explore its future.

“CES is shaping up to be the premier event for digital health,” said GrandCare founder, Charlie Hillman. “I am appreciative and encouraged by industry giants like UnitedHealth Group, who are leading the way with their presence and sponsorship in the aging and technology field.”

Industry leader, GrandCare Systems, will provide full demonstrations of Aging in Place Communication/Cognition/ADL Monitoring and Tele-Wellness Assessment technology. Dealer/Reseller Opportunities are available. GrandCare has been available for sale since 2006 and has dealers and resellers throughout the United States and Canada. AgeTek Pavilion participants include: GrandCare Systems , Presto, Bath Packs and Wellcore.

The Digital Health & Silvers Summit exhibit hall is open January 6 – 9, 2011) and will complement the one-day event and showcase today’s generation of companies addressing a variety of industry needs. Products and services highlighted include those addressing managed care, patient/doctor communication, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery time, lowered costs for health insurance, early prevention and detection, digital patient information records, medical attention over distances, and diagnosing and battling disease. Now in its second year, The Digital Health Summit at CES focuses on the growing market of consumer-based innovations that sit at the convergence of technology and healthcare. For more information about the Digital Health Summit, including agenda and list of exhibiting companies, visit: http://digitalhealthsummit.com/.

About GrandCare Systems
GrandCare Systems is a caregiving and communications TOOL, designed to enhance familial and caregiving relationships while giving Loved Ones and their Care-Partners desired “peace of mind”, freedom, dignity and entertainment.
Using a series of wireless Activity and Tele-wellness sensors, GrandCare can notify care-partners if anything seems amiss, while allowing loved ones to receive pictures, messages, emails, reminders, calendar events, family videos and more on a simple to use, interactive touch panel. The Loved One can play interactive games like solitaire and tic-tac-toe, check news headlines, see weather reports, listen to favorite music and even have 2-way virtual video visits with family…all without having to know ANYTHING about using a computer.

For more information:
Laura Mitchell
Director of Business Relations
GrandCare Systems
www.grandcare.com
laura@grandcare.com
262-338-6147

Majority of Americans Agree ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ for Care of Elderly Family Members

I wanted to post this article I ran across today, because it’s so spot on with our values and mission. Since 2006, the staff at GrandCare has been promoting our ADL, Wellness, Communication & Cognition technology to help loved ones to remain independent, safer, healthier, more free, connected to family, and at ease will at home. The family members and care partners have “peace of mind” knowing that all is well with a loved one and that if anything seems amiss (excessive weight gain, med noncompliance, failure to get out of bed, etc), they can specify a phone call, email or text. GrandCare Systems is the IDEAL partner technology and caregiver tool for a home health company like Amedisys.

Nov. 9, 2010, 8:00 a.m. EST
Majority of Americans Agree ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ for Care of Elderly Family Members
New Amedisys poll shows that 3 out of 4 Americans would choose home health care for their loved ones’ medical needs over nursing homes and other care facilities

BATON ROUGE, La., Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — When faced with managing the care of an aging or ill family member, a new survey shows that Americans want to keep their loved ones close to home. According to a national telephone poll conducted by Harris Interactive for Amedisys, a leading provider of home care and hospice services (AMED 27.90, +0.22, +0.79%) , 74 percent of Americans would prefer having a terminally ill family member taken care of at home with the care of a trained health aide, rather than in a traditional nursing home or other care facility. In comparison, only 10 percent would prefer a nursing home and six percent would choose an outpatient center. The poll also found that when considering care for an elderly family member recuperating from surgery, half (51 percent) would prefer home health care over any other facility.

The survey was conducted as part of Amedisys’ Annual Home Care Matters Initiative around National Home Care and Hospice Month, a national month of recognition across the industry, which takes place each November.

The poll results show that Americans have a preference for home care for themselves, as well. If faced with chronic medical care, terminal illness or surgery recuperation, the overwhelming majority of Americans would prefer home health care versus off-site care at a nursing home, rehabilitation or outpatient center. The poll found that 65 percent of respondents would prefer home health care for themselves while recuperating from surgery, while 75 percent would prefer it for themselves if they were in the final stage of a terminal illness.

Home health care is identified as a valuable resource for families

Survey respondents said they are already providing some sort of care for their loved ones: one-in-five poll respondents (19 percent) reported that they are coordinating or assisting with home care for a spouse or elderly family member, and according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 43 percent of those providing care are 50 years of age or older, and 61 percent of family caregivers are women.

According to the AARP Public Policy Institute, the annual economic value of these types of unpaid care giving activities is an astounding $354 billion.

“Home health care assists these familial caregivers in being more effective in managing a loved one’s illness which provides a significant cost and family stress relief benefit,” says Michael Fleming, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Amedisys. “The home health industry can help produce better health outcomes for patients if more people, doctors included, were better educated about health care at home options.”

And, the number of family members caring for sick loved ones is expected to grow: more than one-third (34 percent) of respondents to the Harris poll anticipate that they will have to do so within the next five years. Not surprisingly, respondents felt that home health care is a critical part of the continuum of care. Eighty-eight percent of those polled felt that home health care could be considered a valuable resource for themselves, their family members and future generations.

Home care plays a critical role in managing the age tsunami

According to 2008 figures, approximately 7.6 million Americans receive care at home for a variety of conditions. Recent studies show that the average home care patient has changed considerably during the past few years, with an increase in patients requiring major rehabilitation needs. In fact, a 2007 report from the Centers for Disease Control showed that 80 percent of older adults had at least one chronic condition and two-thirds of all health care costs are spent on chronic disease management. With the graying of the American population – and the clear preference for care at home – the demand for home care and hospice is only expected to grow.

“As the population ages, home health and hospice care is going to become increasingly important as an alternative to hospital or nursing home care. And it’s a service that Americans clearly want,” said Amedisys Chief Executive Officer William Borne. “Over the next ten years, home health care has the potential to save $31 billion dollars in Medicare costs. As we progress into the role of chronic care management, the home health and hospice industry has an important role to play in the future of health care.”

Other survey findings:

Currently, 25 percent of those polled provide some type of financial support to an elderly family member, and 38 percent anticipate having to do so within the next five years.

Regionally, those in the South (43 percent), the West (44 percent), and Northeast (38 percent) are more likely than those in the Midwest (26 percent) to provide financial support within the next five years.

Half (49 percent) of Americans would be angry and an additional one-third (33 percent) would be disappointed if home health care was not an available care option to them.

The Harris Poll National Quorum(R) was conducted by telephone within the United States between August 4 -8, 2010 among 1,006 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, and number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

If only the elderly could stay HOME: GrandCare Featured in Inc. Magazine

Hot Market: The Aging Population
Baby boomers are hitting old age—and they are terrified of nursing homes. If only there was some way to keep the elderly in their homes and healthy.

By Leigh Buchanan | Nov 1, 2010
By 2030, 71 million Americans will be over age 65, according to the U.S. Census. Currently, 30 percent of elderly Americans who are not in assisted living live alone, and 90 percent say they want to grow old in their homes, according to AARP. Home health care, much of it for the elderly, is one of the fastest-growing segments in the country’s fastest-growing industry.

The Inspiration: In 1993, Charles Hillman, an engineering consultant, was living on a farm in Wisconsin. His great-aunt Clara, then in her late 80s, occupied a cottage 100 yards from the main house. One day, Aunt Clara called to complain she was cold. Arriving at the cottage, Hillman found all the windows flung wide; his aunt said she had opened them because the room was smoky. “I went down into the crawlspace and saw her furnace was on fire,” recalls Hillman. After extinguishing the blaze, Hillman asked his aunt why she hadn’t mentioned the erratic temperatures and strange noises that had been emanating from beneath the house for days. Says Hillman: “She gave the answer that boomers caring for aging parents hear all the time: ‘I know you’re busy and didn’t want to bother you.’ ”

The Business: GrandCare Systems, based in West Bend, Wisconsin, makes technology that helps seniors live independently. Sensors installed around the home monitor motion (tracking, for example, if the resident appears to be wandering or fails to rise from a chair or bed and how often doors open and close); check room temperature; and allow remote reporting of blood pressure, pulse, weight, and other health indicators. A communications base, accessed through an ordinary television, delivers content that includes weather and spiritual offerings and enables communication with family, friends, and caregivers.

How It Got Started: After rescuing Aunt Clara, Hillman had to wait for the technology to catch up to his idea for a system to help seniors and their caregivers avoid similar situations. He bided his time by studying the market. He joined the boards of a local long-term-care organization and the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. “As we would discuss finances and state reimbursement, it was pretty clear that institutional long-term care was not a sustainable model,” says Hillman. “Also, the view of nursing homes has really changed. People fear them more than death.”

As he prepared to launch the business in 2004, Hillman joined a consortium of companies developing technology for the aged. The consortium’s large corporate members — including Intel and Philips — were generous with their survey data. That research helped Hillman determine how to price his offerings, market simultaneously to seniors and their personal and professional caregivers, and design products that wouldn’t simply be unplugged or ignored. “People are used to getting information from their television and their telephone, so that’s where we started,” says Hillman, who purchased sensors and other hardware components from GE and hired programmers to develop software linking it all together.

The company launched in 2005 and spent several years testing the system in the independent-living units of long-term-care facilities. Those facilities may become his customers as well, Hillman says.

The Result: GrandCare released its new core system, HomeBase, last summer, and had sold several hundred units by mid-August, after the product was featured on CBS’s The Early Show. The company, which expects to become profitable this year, has seven employees — chiefly programmers — and markets through a network of almost 200 independent dealers. It has sold systems in every U.S. state, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

Comment by GrandCare Systems:
thanks for the wonderful article Inc. Magazine!!! The GrandCare System was released into the market in 2006 and has been installed by authorized dealers ever since into private homes, long term care facilities, independent apartments and group homes. Our latest model, the GrandCare HomeBase allows families to not only assess activities of daily living and tele-wellness, but also has an easy-to-use INTERACTIVE touchpad for the LOVED one to be able to see pictures, messages, emails (and post simple responses using the onscreen key pad), online family videos, two way interactive web chat via skype, check weather reports, play games like trivia, solitaire, tic-tac-toe and more. It’s simple for the LOVED one to use and requires ZERO computer knowledge or experience! Authorized family and caregivers can access info easily from any Internet Connected computer and send communications through the GrandCare web portal.

Thanks again to Inc. Magazine and Leigh Buchanan for covering the ever-important issue of staying safe, independent, healthy and HAPPY at home!!

The GrandCare Team
www.grandcare.com
262-448-6147
info@grandcare.com

HealthTech Marketing Group takes on GrandCare Systems!


http://www.healthtechmg.com/docs/HealthTech_Brochure.pdf

Searching for Technology to assist with care for the Aged:

(Taken from the HealthTech Marketing Group Literature)
For Families
Caring for a senior can be a challenging, expensive, and frustrating experience. Allowing them to remain safely living where they prefer is our focus. As the leading provider of Aging-in-Place solutions, we ensure that your loved one is monitored, from a safety and health perspective giving you peace of mind. And our communications tools, computerless e-mail and photo sharing, ensure they are able to stay connected without learning new skills.

For Facilities
Keeping a watchful eye on your closed-door residents is challenging yet can be critical to their survival. HealthTech provides solutions that allow the senior to be safe in their private room, and the facility completely connected to their situation. As the leading provider of technology solutions for seniors, we ensure that your residents are monitored, from a safety and health perspective, and are able to function without ongoing attention.

For Agencies
Being able to protect your clients without being there is what HealthTech provides for home health providers. Our Aging-in-Place solutions allow the senior to be safe at home, while keeping you completely connected to their situation 24/7. You can increase their survival rate while lowering their cost of service. We ensure that your clients are monitored, from a safety and health perspective, and are able to function without ongoing attention.

For Professionals
Wouldn’t it be great to allow your patients to stay home and provide daily health updates to you? With HealthTech solutions you can reduce office visits while improving patient care/case management. You are always connected to them, ensuring that you are in the loop at all times. Being able to protect your clients is what HealthTech is all about.
Our solutions allow the senior to be safe at home, while keeping you completely connected.

About GrandCare
Using a combination of remote environmental and passive physiological sensing, RULE-BASED intelligence and networking technologies, GrandCare Systems allows the caregiver to remotely and passively monitor a loved-one without compromising dignity or privacy. This reduces caregiver stress by providing peace of mind all around. GrandCare recognizes the importance of an active body, mind and soul by simultaneously addressing the loneliness and social isolation associated with aging. Family can easily stay connected by virtually sending communications to the loved one’s TV or TouchScreen. This not only improves the quality of life for an individual living alone, but also enhances memory.

GrandCare System Features
• Activity Monitoring including:
– Door Openings, Weight, Meds, Blood Pressure, Sleeping Patterns and Wake-ups
• Wellness Reports
-Weight, Blood Pressure, Pulse
• Rules-based Communications
– Phone, E-mail and Text
• Family and Staff Communications
and Scheduling Systems
How GrandCare Works
The GrandCare system connects to any television set with audio/video
inputs and any full-time Internet connection. The GrandCare sensors are
discreetly placed around the residence and report sensor activity to the
system. Caregivers can view the data on-line and set up conditions to receive automated alerts via e-mail, text messages or phone calls. Family can send communications and cognitive assists right to an interactive touchpad or dedicated
channel on the loved one’s television set.

GrandCare is now working together with HealthTech Marketing Group!

About HealthTech:

HealthTech Marketing Group launched more than a decade ago as Marketlink, an international provider of market launch services for high-technology startups. Our success has spanned many categories of technologies, from networking, security and storage to mobile and wireless. In 2009, we made the decision to launch a healthcare focused initiative, specializing in the rapidly growing senior market. The aging baby boomer population, combined with expanding mortality rates of Americans, has created an enormous and rapidly growing market for Aging-in-Place technologies. With the new
focus on health care initiatives, HealthTech Marketing Group was launched. HealthTech provides aging-in-place technologies to the adult children of the senior community, to facilities and agencies that service and house seniors, and to professional caregivers including doctors and service providers. And for the supplier base, we provide an ideal environment to aggressively launch your solutions through our provider clients and directly to the senior community. HealthTech Marketing Group is headquartered in Novi, Michigan. We have amassed a U.S. sales force in excess of 180 professionals located across the country and our long-term goal is to create a group of 400+ professionals, touching every community. HealthTech Marketing Group…Technology Solutions for the Aging Community!

Thurs Oct 7, 2p ET, Holistic Approach to Aging in Place, Founder of GrandCare speaks

WHEN: Thursday Oct 7, 2pm EDT (1p CT).
WHERE: http://my.dimdim.com/grandcare
WHAT: A Holistic Approach To Aging in Place
WHO: Charlie Hillman, founder of GrandCare speaks
WHY: We need to work together to build this new aging & technology category! Remember, the Aging Tsunami will float ALL boats!Calls created & hosted by GrandCare Systems (since 2008). Sponsored by various industry participants

Topic Description: Charlie Hillman from GrandCare Systems, discusses the holistic approach to aging in place, and why this is not your ordinary sale.

About Charlie Hillman:
Charlie Hillman has spent most of his career as an entrepreneur involved with disruptive technologies. His latest, GrandCare Systems, is designed to allow the aged to live longer at home with greater security and less social isolation. Using a combination of Smart Home technologies, ADL monitoring, Internet communications, and Tele-Wellness features, the system is intended to support an entire network of caregivers.
Mr. Hillman is a professional engineer with a BS from MIT and a Masters in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is a commissioner of CAST (Center for Aging Technologies) and a frequent speaker at national and international conferences.

Laurie Orlov speaks on Caregiving Technology: What’s New

Every Thursday at 2p ET (1p CT), GrandCare Systems hosts an aging & technology industry call.

This Thursday, 8-19-10

TOPIC: Laurie Orlov, Aging in Place Technology Watch speaks on Caregiving Technology — What’s New?

Join us: http://my.dimdim.com/grandcare
Optional Dial In listed on the webinar

8-19-10 Call sponsored by Added Care Services. Co-sponsored by Celery & Home Controls.

Laurie M. Orlov, a tech industry veteran, writer, speaker and elder care advocate, is the founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch, a market research firm that provides thought leadership, analysis and guidance about technologies and related services that enable boomers and seniors to remain longer in their home of choice. In addition to her technology background and years as a technology industry analyst, Laurie served as a volunteer long-term care ombudsman and is certified in Geriatric Care Management from the University of Florida and the author of When Your Parents Need Elder Care.

GrandCare Systems – NEW VIDEO shows how to STAY independent, connected & at home!

Welcome to the latest in-home remote monitoring and social technology, GrandCare Systems. GrandCare borrows aspects from traditional security system sensors, standard health devices, digital photo frame technology and social networking tools to provide the ultirmate in-home experience for a senior desiring to stay home! Caregivers can have “peace of mind” knowing they will receive automated phone, email or text message alerts if anything is wrong (eg: the front door opens during the night, a loved one got out of bed, but didn’t return, meds were not accessed, a caregiver did not arrive, etc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h3qL5t-sec


GrandCare System makes LIVING independently feasible and FUN for aging loved ones

2-25-10 AgeTech Topic: Aging in Place, an Occupational Therapist speaks

This Thursday’s AgeTech Industry Meeting Info:
ALL ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US!!

when: Thurs Feb 25, 2010, 2pm EST/1pm CST/12n MST/ 11a PST
where: www.dimdim.com meeting room: grandcare
dial in: listed on the top of the webinar
what: Carolyn Sithong, an Occupational Therapist and Founder of Home for Life Design, will discuss Aging-in-Place (AIP)

Carolyn Sithong is a licensed occupational therapist (OT) who is trained specifically in the area of home modifications. She is nationally certified as an Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) by the National Association of Homebuilders and promotes Aging-in-Place concepts throughout the community. Carolyn works as an occupational therapist at a level one trauma hospital, helping families and patients plan for the transitions they may face in the home after injury has occurred. The Home for Life team collaborates with architects and designers who assist in the home renovation or adaptation process.

These aging & technology conference calls are open to anyone and everyone in the aging and technology industry and are meant to educate, learn from each other and network

Live the Vision and ALWAYS Age Responsibly!

Laura Mitchell
Your AgeTech Host
GrandCare Systems Director of Business Relations
info@grandcare.com
262-338-6147
www.grandcare.com

GrandCare is a complete communication, cognition, ADL monitoring & tele-wellness assessment smart-home technology designed to keep individuals safe. happy & healthy at home.