Tag Archive for: GrandCare Systems

Senior Monitoring System

Options for Senior Monitoring

Seniors today are getting connected,

but that doesn’t always mean they are using a computer or a smartphone. Connected technology is providing options for seniors to use health-monitoring devices that often fade into the background, offering security without demanding attention.

We have seen numerous products in this category coming to market lately.

For example, GrandCare Systems, www.grandcare.com, provides a combination of remote environmental sensors to watch over a loved one. We even have www.medcottage.com, a complete modular home that act as on site care facility.

Sonamba, from pomdevices, www.sonamba.com, is also providing monitoring for seniors. The Sonamba device features a 7-inch touchscreen with built-in motion and sound sensors, plus an emergency button. The device keeps track of the senior’s activity, alerting caregivers if something seems out of place. Sonamba doubles as a digital photo frame when not in active use, allowing the technology to become a natural part of the home décor.

As mentioned in the Connected World article “Meeting the Challenge” [Mar./Apr., ’11, p76], next, pomdevices hopes to build a community of devices around Sonamba, adding compatibility with other types of technology, such as blood pressure monitors. These other devices would report back to the main unit, providing even more data about the senior’s condition. To read more about Sonamba, check out the digital edition of Connected World.

The connectivity for Sonamba is provided by a cellular module from Telit Wireless Solutions, www.telit.com, in the form of the company’s GE865-QUAD M2M module. According to Telit, the GE865-QUAD is optimized for power consumption and can receive over-the-air software updates.

Making sure a health-monitoring device can always connect is important, since it could someday save a life.

“There are over 43 million caregivers in the U.S. that seek the peace of mind of knowing that their loved ones are safe and healthy,” say Ajit Pendse, the CEO of pomdevices. “With the help of Telit’s experience and support throughout the Sonamba development process, we are now able to provide seniors with a well-tested and reliable communication device to extend their ability to live independently.”

Sonamba sends text messages to caregivers about a senior’s daily activity, as well as messages composed by the seniors themselves. The device can also provide seniors with reminders to take medication, plus games and calendar events. All of these features are designed to allow seniors to live independently while also enjoying additional safety and security.

Meet Jen Kleczka, GrandCare's newest team member

Introducing Jen Kleczka: the Newest GrandCare Camper

We’d like you to meet our newest team member, Jen Kleczka. In fact, we’d like to meet her too, some day. Most of us are working from home, and have only seen our new Office Manager over Zoom. But we like her a lot, and we’re really excited to welcome her to GrandCare.

Jen’s a people person and incredibly organized. She also has a “can do” attitude, which is perfect for this job. GrandCare is in a period of rapid growth, and it’s her responsibility to keep track of pretty much everything, for everybody and in her limited spare time, do the bookkeeping. She’s been drinking from a firehose since she started and she still seems to be thirsty, which is a great fit for GrandCare.

“I love this company, and I love this job,” she said. “It’s exactly what I want to be doing at this stage of my life.”

Jen was born and raised in West Allis, but she’s been in West Bend for most of her adult life. Her children all graduated from West Bend schools. She has a breadth of experience in jobs she picked mostly to fit around her kids’ schedules when they were young, and then caring for her parents at the end of their lives. “I can do anything, as long as I’m busy,” she said. We’ve found that to be true. We’re keeping Jen very busy, and she handles everything we’ve asked her to do, and it’s been a lot.

When she’s not at GrandCare, her focus is on “family, family, family.” She loves to travel. Her youngest is a U.S. Marine, so whenever she can find a cheap flight, she flies to wherever he’s stationed. She’s also an avid camper. She and her husband help to manage a local campground called Timber Trail Campground during the summer. “Camping is our second family. Sometimes we stay there for the whole summer.”

We’re looking forward to the day when we can officially welcome Jen onboard with our signature employee onboarding at West Bend Tap and Tavern (conveniently located next door.) Until then, we’ll exchange many Slack messages and continue to have fruitful Zoom conversations. Welcome to the GrandCare family Jen and buckle up, it’s going to be a fun adventure!

Click here to meet the whole GrandCare team!

elderly care monitoring system

GrandCare benefits all areas of elderly care

Caring for a loved one who is facing end of life is a difficult situation for all parties involved. Time or geographic constraints can sometimes prevent family members from being physically present, but modern technology is changing the way the nation looks at quality health care.

Knute Nelson, a nonprofit, Christian-based organization that specializes in senior care, has teamed up with local telecommunications providers such as Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association (Brandon, Minn.) to offer an in-home technology solution that connects seniors and Hospice patients with their loved ones, caregivers and medical team.

Through the use of the GrandCare System, a simple touch platform enables in-home residents to view pictures, receive incoming messages, watch videos, listen to music and video chat with family. The system uses a variety of wireless activity and telehealth devices that also can alert designated caregivers by phone, email or text message if anything seems amiss.

Daphne Karpan, Knute Nelson palliative care manager, said the system has been particularly helpful and beneficial to the health-care organization’s Hospice clients, who generally have a one- to nine-month life expectancy. Being able to connect them with their loved ones at such a critical time has been a rewarding experience for all parties involved, she said.

Testing Out Telehealth Services

The GrandCare System requires an Internet connection to work. Because most of the affected patients are not existing customers, Dave Wolf, chief executive officer/general manager of Gardonville Cooperative Telephone, said that his team makes it a top priority to install the low-cost broadband connection “without a bunch of red tape.”

Karpan noted that Knute Nelson is only able to offer this service through the support of a Blandin Foundation grant. The private foundation is the state’s largest rural-based, rural-focused foundation that seeks to strengthen communities in rural Minnesota.

Karpan said hospice nurses are able to work with clients to set up Skype sessions and to upload pictures for families to share. In addition, the device can be programmed to monitor vital signs and activity. There are also sensors to alert caregivers if someone falls or needs to take their medicine.

“We have been proactively redefining the health-care paradigm over the last decade and have found great value in how technology helps to enrich the lives of our patients. With GrandCare, patients are able to become more involved in their own health care, stay living in their homes, and be connected to families and friends in meaningful ways,” said Mark Anderson, president/chief executive officer of Knute Nelson. “Partners and leaders in the field such as Dave Wolf … understand the value in delivering this technology. Making it available to their customers helps to spur economic development and vitality in our region—and, most importantly, adds significant value in the lives of our patients.”

Doing the Right Thing

Reflecting on the decision to partner with Knute Nelson on this initiative, Wolf said it was an easy decision to make despite the fact that it’s not a revenue generator. “These people are facing end-of-life,” he said. “It would require a one- to three-year triple-play package in order to break even at best. Everyone—the patient and their family members— is grateful and becomes loyal to the co-op for providing this service.

“There are 100 economic reasons not to get involved … but we have the means and the network already in place,” he said, explaining that Gardonville Cooperative Telephone is promoting the service as a low-speed data package that runs on 1 Mbps and doesn’t require those in home care or Hospice to sign a contract.

“Not everything has to be a slam-dunk,” Wolf said. “In this case, loyalty is a measurable outcome.”

 

By Tennille Shields, NTCA Senior Writer/Editor

home care remote monitoring

Remote Monitoring That Will Assist Caregivers

The advent of new technology is helping people that require some level of assistance stay independent in their homes longer. One of the technologies taking the market by storm is the GrandCare System. The GrandCare System is finding its way into a number of areas including residences, small group homes and even larger independent and assisted living facilities.

In a nut shell, GrandCare is a three level system. Level one provides a social interface for the end-user, level two is a health and wellness monitoring portion and level three monitors daily activity. Throw in basic home automation control and you have a fully interactive monitoring system that will provide the assistance that is needed by a large portion of the population.

With the rising cost of healthcare, we need to find new solutions that allow early detection of potential problems and address them prior to hospitalization. One hospital admittance and the system can be paid for. Also, with the average cost of assisted living topping $50,000 per year….the cost of a system can be absorbed in a number of months and extend the ability to stay at home for years. Couple a GrandCare System with a PERS and medication management system and the cost is still well below assisted living.

Level One

The first part of the Grandcare is the social interface. This portion of the system is designed to keep the user in touch with the world (even without knowing how to use a computer). It provides a central place for family to share things like photos and information. The system provides a touch screen computer and can also be connected to a TV. The touch screen allows the user to access pre-set internet sites, receive and send email, listen to music, play games and more. When not being used for an activity, the system will display; photos (that can be uploaded by family), trivia, weather, news headlines, daily reminders and other items that the family and user can designate.

Level Two

Level two is something we all need! It is the Health and Wellness side of the system. Via a wireless interface, the system will monitor weight, blood pressure and pulse-ox. The caregiver/family member can create rules so when the system detects changes, it will notify them via email, text message or a simple phone call. (More on rules later). The system will also monitor the glucose levels of the user. Combine all of the monitoring with a complete reporting system that generates reports that can be printed out and given to your doctor. This provides a much more detailed and lengthy look of the patient allowing the doctor to make better decisions then they can when they get that ten or fifteen minute snap shot when you are in for a check-up.

Level Three

Level three is designed to monitor the daily activity of the occupants of the home. It is a non evasive way of ensuring that they are ok. The system will monitor doors, windows, the refrigerator….basically, anything that can be opened. It will also look at motion, lack of motion or excessive motion in any area that is monitored. For example, if a person gets out of bed at 7AM every day, the system can be programmed to watch for no motion in the home between say, 6AM and 8AM indicating they didn’t get up. It can also monitor if a person is in bed or out of bed and how much they are moving around. By doing that, we can determine how well someone sleeps and if they are not sleeping well address it so they sleep better. The system will also advise caregivers and family members if someone is out of bed for an extended period at night, possibly indicating a problem. With the ability to monitor just about anything combined with the rules that can be created, you can create a truly safe environment.

Care Notes

This is an area for caregivers and family members that visit the user to perform assistance tasks, check on wellbeing or for any other reason they stop in. The care notes allow a person to enter basic notes. For example, a daytime caregiver may leave a note for the overnight caregiver saying that the resident has the flu so make sure they are drinking fluids. Or a daughter may stop by and notice that dad has a cut on his head from a fall so he needs to be checked on from time to time for the next 24 hours. All of the care notes can be reviewed from any computer with an internet connection and are also sent out via email at the end of the day to the people that you designate. This allows everyone to stay up to date as to what is going on.

The Rules

The GrandCare System allows rules to be setup by the caregiver or family members. This is an extremely flexible part of the system and very easy to modify as needs or areas of concern change. Some of the systems that are similar to GrandCare use Artificial Intelligence (AI). This allows the computer to set rules based on what it determines is the “normal activity” of the user. That works well providing that when the system is installed, the user has no existing conditions. The system may decide that something that is truly an issue is normal activity.
The rules in the GrandCare System can be setup to send a message via Text Message, Email or can use an automated voice and place a phone call to a designated person. You can also use any combination of the notifications. You can also use rules to cause something to happen in the home, say turn on a light. A few examples follow;
1) If no motion is detected between 7AM and 9AM send a text message to caregiver 1
2) If any door opens between 10PM and 6AM call caregiver 2
3) If person gets out of bed between 10PM and 7AM turn on the bathroom light
4) If a person is out of bed for more the 15 minutes between 10PM and 7AM, call caregiver 1
5) If a glucose reading is below 100, call the home and say “ Your blood sugar is low please drink orange juice”
The rules that can be created are almost endless and can be modified as needed. This allows the system to be customized to today and then changed to meet tomorrow’s needs.

Dealers

You will want to work with a local and reputable authorized dealer. The system brings a lot of capabilities; however during setup and installation this can overwhelm and confuse the caregivers and family members. Plus, you want to get the most from the system. When the system is first installed, the dealer will help to determine the best layout of the sensors based on the individual needs and help setup the users and rules. Some dealers will have a follow-up meeting about two weeks after the installation to review rules, adjust sensors and make any changes that are needed now that the system has real data from day to day use. The dealer will charge a monthly fee that typically covers the monthly software license (charged by the manufacturer), the hosting for alert notification, software updates and sometimes on going service for hardware failure. Some dealers will even take care of rule changes, adding users and other ongoing software maintenance. Spend time with your dealer and ensure that they are a good fit for you and your family.
When all is said and done, this is a system that can greatly improve safety, independence and general daily life of the user. However, this is not a put it in and forget it system, you want to have the family(Children, Grandchildren, Cousins etc…no matter where they live) involved and keep the photos new and changing, sending emails to the user and keeping information fresh. This will help to keep someone who may be isolated from the rest of the world more active and involved.

About the author:

James Gleason is co-owner of JNL Technologies Inc, a company that is focused on safety systems both for the residential setting as well as assisted, independent and skilled care settings. James has spent the last 15 years working in this industry and serving our population

GrandCare featured on The Morning Blend

GrandCare is Making Headlines

GrandCare CEO Laura Mitchell featured on the Chamber Local Business SpotlightGrandCare has been making the news!

1. Today, we were featured on The Morning Blend on TMJ4.

2. Last week, GrandCare CEO Laura Mitchell was interviewed for the Chamber Local Business Spotlight feature on 101.3 FM.

3. GrandCare was singled out as having the “most experience and most robust platform” in an article in Home Health Care News by senior care expert, Bill Thomas. You may recognize him as the founder of the Eden Alternative, ChangeAging keynote speaker, TED Talk speaker (multiple times) and the founder of the Green House Model. His methods were described in detail in the book Being Mortal.

4. GrandCare’s CEO Laura Mitchell was profiled in a blog by industry analyst Laurie Orlov, Founder of Aging In Place Technology Watch.

virtual long term care

Benefit Specialists Recognizes GrandCare as the Cadillac of Virtual Long-Term Care

Benefit Specialists, an industry leader since 1980, is a privately owned, full service insurance brokerage firm specialize in both employer-provided and voluntary benefits for companies of all sizes across a broad array of industries. Affiliated with over 50 of the largest national insurance companies, they specialize in providing customized solutions for companies looking for group and individual insurance products and benefit plans which will meet the unique needs of employees.

Recently, Benefit Specialists wrote an interesting article discussing the impact that emerging technologies are having on long-term care environments. Check out the excerpt below, which explains how GrandCare is reshaping the healthcare landscape.

“For those who want to maximize their peace of mind, Gomez says the Cadillac of virtual long-term care is a remote-monitoring system like that offered by grandCARE.

With this system, activity sensors are placed in a senior’s home. To use grandCARE, Managed Senior Care first evaluates what a typical ‘good day’ looks like for a senior and sets alerts accordingly. For example, if a senior typically has breakfast by 9 a.m. and the refrigerator hasn’t been opened by that time, an alert may go out to a caregiver.

As with Banner iCare, seniors using the grandCARE system are set up with a tablet. In this case, it’s an oversized tablet that can be remotely activated. If a caregiver needs to check on a senior, he or she can open Skype which will activate the camera and microphone on the tablet. At that point, the caregiver can look for the senior and call out to him or her to determine whether help is needed.

‘One of the reasons we like this product is because it’s respectful of the senior,’ Gomez says. ‘You know when people are watching. There is no secret monitoring.’”

RSS Monitoring Using GrandCare to Help State of Ohio Give Better Care

 

The State of Ohio is one of GrandCare’s newest fans. And it’s not just because of our rock star good looks.

A recent segment on ABC 6 On Your Side highlighted GrandCare affiliate RSS Monitoring, and its successful implementation of GrandCare technology, to help save the State of Ohio a lot of money in taking care of disabled residents who need nursing care provided in their homes.

The State of Ohio is experiencing a shortage of home health aides. It’s cheaper for people to receive care in their homes, but the staffing shortage meant that people were getting less care than they needed, or care that wasn’t as good as it should be. That’s why, four years ago, RSS turned to GrandCare for a solution.

“The technology in that case takes the place of a staff person,” said John Martin, Director of the Department of Developmental Disabilities. “It’s one of those neat things where we’re both good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars and it improved the quality of life of some of the folks we’re serving.”

The numbers of dollars saved are larger than you might imagine.

According to the ABC news report, “Martin said each person who uses that technology saves the state between $10,000 to $100,000 compared to the cost of having an around-the-clock home health aide.”

Residents are helped by a variety of GrandCare’s monitoring capabilities. Examples include:

“People with autism who function better with a predictable routine can have a sensor in their shower to make sure they’re getting their morning started on the right track. People who suffer seizures can have a sensor detect if they’ve fallen and might need help.”

The residents like the results.

“People help me out,” said Becky Ross who suffers from seizures and now has sensors on her floors to detect if she’s fallen. “I can be more independent (with the sensors).”

If the sensors in Ross’s home go off, she will get a video call to make sure she’s okay. If she’s not, emergency help will be sent to her home.

Currently 170 people have sensors like that installed in their homes. Thanks to the success of this four-year venture, Gov. Kasich’s budget would now expand the program to cover roughly 600 people.

GrandCare is proud to be a part of this effort. We created GrandCare as a way to improve the lives of so many people. And we’re delighted that in the process of helping their residents, Ohio has found that our systems can help save their taxpayers big money.

See the ABC News video

GrandCare Gets Its Kicks on Route 66

“If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.”

GrandCare is headed to western Illinois for this year’s Healthy Living Expo with GrandCare affiliate Gray Matters Alliance. This one-day event, held on May 19, is a great place to have fun, get facts on healthy living for seniors, and get free health screenings. And it’s a good place to learn more about GrandCare by stopping at Table 19.

But wait, there’s more! The event is being held at Gateway Classic Cars which means that, in addition to this fun and informative expo, you can enjoy the classic car show. There will be hundreds of cars to look at and more than 100 vendors to visit.

And wait, there’s even more! There’s a free continental breakfast, complimentary lunch, entertainment, games, and more. Even a Patsy Cline impersonator! There’s also free transportation. (Call 800-326-3221 for pickup locations.)

“It winds from Chicago to LA,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.”

So, if you’re winding down Route sixty-six, or any highway, be sure to stop in at Gateway Classic Cars at 1237 Central Park Drive, in O’Fallon, Illinois. Get healthy, and enjoy the car show.

The event is sponsored by AgeSmart Community Resources. AgeSmart works to help older adults remain independent in their homes and communities. Through planning, funding, responding to community needs and providing answers on aging, AgeSmart Community Resources helps people age well their way.

Healthy Living Expo
Sponsored by AgeSmart Community Resources
May 19, 2017
At Gateway Classic Cars
1237 Central Park Dr
O’Fallon, IL
Table 19
Expo open 8:30am to 12:30pm
More information

Gray Matters Alliance was established to create empathy, patience and tolerance towards the elder population. They are committed to offering peace of mind for families while allowing their loved ones to remain engaged and maintain their dignity and at the same time provide caregivers with additional resources to do their jobs more effectively and compassionately. Find out more at their website (www.graymattersalliance.com.)

Family. The Sweetest Mother’s Day Gift of All

Mother’s Day can be traced all the way back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, but the more modern day precursor was in the mid-1800’s with the formation of “Mother’s Day Work Clubs,” helping women with childcare. Post-Civil War, these clubs became peace organizations to promote reconciliation between former Union and Confederate soldiers. And in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially established the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

Most celebrate Mother’s Day with flowers, chocolates, family events and maybe even brunch. This Mother’s Day why not offer mom the greatest gift of all, the gift that keeps giving, the gift of family communication. GrandCare is the gift of constant family socialization, photo sharing, Facebook integration, video chatting, games, trivia, weather, news reports and more. The best part is that Mom doesn’t have to know anything at all about computers or Facebook in order to take full advantage of the rich memories.

Use Code “MD2017” for a $200 discount on a GrandCare System for your mother. Only two systems per customer. Offer expires May 31st. Only available online. (www.grandcare.com)

“More phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year. These holiday chats with Mom often cause phone traffic to spike by as much as 37 percent.”

You get the peace of mind that comes with easy, non-intrusive activity monitoring. It also brings the more distant family members right to her touchscreen, so they don’t feel left out. Not only that, but if your mom is managing a chronic health condition at home, GrandCare can help with that, too. From on-screen medication reminders, to automatically recording her vitals every day, GrandCare never forgets.

To make it easy, we’ll even give you a sweet Mother’s Day deal. From now until May 31st, if you order a GrandCare System online, use discount code “MD2017” and save $200. (www.grandcare.com)

This could be the greatest Mother’s Day gift ever. So let Mom enjoy Facebook photos from the entire family on her GrandCare System, play some card games, and place one-touch video calls to the grandchildren. And you can still do brunch, too.

GrandCare Shines at Boomer Summit

Once again, this year GrandCare is exhibiting and showcasing our latest features at the 14th annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit in Chicago, Illinois. Why do we keep coming back? Because the Boomer Summit is a great place to meet up with the longevity market’s leaders. You’ll see CEO’s from top businesses, entrepreneurs from innovative startups, finance people, nonprofits, industry analysts, and everyone else you can imagine who moves this industry forward.

GrandCare CEO Charlie Hillman has been attending this networking event for years. “We have been building this market for over a decade, but it’s hard to move the giant, especially when healthcare is part of the equation,” Hillman said. “Obviously the introduction of enabling telehealth and telemedicine technologies will participate in reducing costs and improving patient outcomes. It is critical for our increasing senior population and the country’s healthcare system as a whole.”

GrandCare has so much to share at the summit. We just released a brand new concierge model customized for premier independent living communities with resident touchscreen check-in capabilities, community-wide messaging and emergency broadcasting. The new GrandCare distribution client affiliate network has been growing quickly, not just in the US, but globally in five additional countries. GrandCare has been shortlisted for a top disability award at the UK Disability Conference, NAIDEX.

GrandCare will be showcasing all of the new features and the comprehensive product models established for private home care, senior housing, home health care, “CCRC’s without Walls” and PACE programs. 2017 is going to be a great year for GrandCare.

There are many good reasons to attend the Boomer Summit. Besides seeing the latest in boomer-facing solutions, this one-day event has always been the best place for networking within the longevity market. And this year could be the best one yet. If there’s one event that really lets you take the temperature of the entire aging industry, this is it.

The one-day Summit takes place on Thursday, March 23, at the Chicago Hyatt Regency.
Register now.
Use discount code wn17LMC20 for a 20% discount on your registration.