Tag Archive for: remote monitoring

Mom Calls the GrandCare System “God-Send”

Touchscreen-based engagement and monitoring technology, GrandCare, enables communication between individuals and family members.

While we are no longer in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, it continues to threaten the safety of the aging and disability population. This is why it’s so important to keep these individuals connected to family, even when a physical visit isn’t possible.

We are always pleased to hear the personal stories of how GrandCare helps our customers. We recently heard from one daughter who, after being exposed to COVID, was unable to visit her mother at memory care.

“Almost done quarantining from COVID, and I wanted to thank you because having the ability to check on my mom daily with the GrandCare System has been priceless!” said Sharon Emerich, who uses GrandCare to check in with her mother and her caregiving team on a daily basis.

“She continues to be fine (thank goodness), but I was able to let her know why I haven’t been visiting and I was able to communicate quickly with caregivers also. Mom calls the GrandCare System a God-send and [my husband] Kirk and I agree!”

The GrandCare system, a 17-inch touchscreen, has family photos, streaming radio stations, old-time radio programs, games and medication reminders. Residents can check in on the system and video chat with designated family members. Optional motion and telehealth sensors can notify caregivers if something seems amiss.

We want to hear your story! If you’d like to share your GrandCare experience with us, please send us a message.

VIDEO: Implementing Remote Monitoring Technology

From funding options to training your staff, our latest webinar explained how to successfully implement remote monitoring technology (from start to finish) in your smart homes for people with disabilities and senior communities.

Shane Ferguson of Carolina Residential Services, a leader in disability support services, and Nora Baratto of Everhome Columbia, advocate and case manager for older adults joined us on this webinar to share their invaluable advice and experience.

What we covered in the webinar:

  • Personnel, including a project manager and participating support staff
  • Identifying and evaluating the home and installation environment
  • Determining who is a good candidate for remote monitoring and support
  • Assessing individual needs and mapping them to technology
  • Staffing the gaps
  • Training (supported person, natural supports, DSPs)
  • Staffing ratios and how to staff remote support
  • Setting up an on-call visit team for when in-person support is needed

If you were unable to attend this webinar, the recording is available on YouTube. If you have questions about GrandCare, reach out to us.

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WATCH How to successfully implement remote monitoring technology:

How to Address Staffing Shortages with Remote Monitoring Technology

Disability and aging service providers are facing an increased need for care while also dealing with record staff shortages. These organizations are turning to technology solutions like GrandCare to continue serving clients in need without having to onboard more staff.

New Technology Features for Remote Monitoring and Support

With over 16 years of building and developing, GrandCare is the most comprehensive and robust technology designed to make remote caregiving more seamless, proactive and affordable. Most recently, GrandCare has built out specific features to serve the disability services market, in addition to the aging and post-acute marketplaces they already serve.

GrandCare now offers community GC touchscreens in addition to the individualized touchscreens in private rooms. These community screens go in public areas of the residence and can offer public messaging and one touch video call options to remote support providers. They also mirror resident touchscreens and discreetly remind residents if a task is due (such as medication or another to-do reminder).

Supported individuals can choose how to receive reminders at home or on the go by text message, colored light prompts or on their personal GrandCare touchscreens.

“GrandCare has created a product to directly support professional care organizations, while improving the health and happiness of the individual,” says GrandCare CEO, Laura Mitchell. “Now that we have seen proven success and reduction in cost and hands-on hours, we make it our mission to directly support each of our clients to ensure long term success and savings.”

To support multiple remote care staff and ensure accountability, GrandCare has created a more robust ‘Managed Alerts’ option for claiming alerts and documenting the resolution.

“The GrandCare Managed Alerts help our staff prioritize the most critical needs for the people they serve. For one person, certain sensor activity is expected, but for someone else it could show a support need. The managed alerts make that distinction.” – Hannah E., LADD

Funding and Implementation of Remote Monitoring Technology

While many organizations are on board with the new technology, some questions remain on funding, the new remote staffing model and how to successfully implement. GrandCare can help address all of these questions in an upcoming implementation-focused webinar for aging and disability service providers.

We will be hosting this free webinar Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, from 3-4pm ET in response to the demand for assistive technology for disability smart homes and senior communities. Plus, attendees who join will receive a special limited time discount code for 5 free GrandCare Systems (terms apply).

Remote Monitoring and Remote Support Webinar

The Remote Monitoring & Remote Support Roadmap webinar will cover:

  • Personnel, including a project manager and participating support staff
  • Identifying and evaluating the home and installation environment
  • Determining who is a good candidate for remote monitoring and support
  • Assessing individual needs and mapping them to technology
  • Staffing the gaps
  • Training (supported person, natural supports, DSPs)
  • Staffing ratios and how to staff remote support
  • Setting up an on-call visit team for when in-person support is needed

Register online: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN___F2FVT8S1q9CxZoOytT5w

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.

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

Technology For Seniors

Does it Work? Yep. And Now We Can Prove It.

 

We have always believed that technology could keep seniors safe, healthy, and connected. This belief is why we do what we do at GrandCare. But can we prove it really is effective for clinical situations? Well that’s an easy answer. Yes. And we have the data to back it up. GrandCare does help the senior and disabled population to stay healthier, while bringing down the cost of care.

In recent case studies, the clients used GrandCare in conjunction with 24/7 case management services. GrandCare automatically recorded patient vitals, reminded patients when to take vitals or medications, passively monitored activity patterns, and triggered rule-based alerts to notify caregivers if something seemed amiss. Caregivers could preventatively address situations, often with simple and inexpensive remedies. These included everything from phone calls, HIPAA-compliant video chats, med changes or, if needed, clinical care. Many clients eligible for nursing home care were able to remain at home.

Overall, the results were remarkable. Patients were healthier, ER visits and hospital readmissions dropped, and senior satisfaction was much higher.

Hospital Readmission Studies

  • One Georgia study used GrandCare technology in conjunction with case management services and found hospital readmissions reduced by 51% from pre-pilot rates.
  • Another study with older adults eligible for nursing home care utilized GrandCare’s passive technology to monitor ADLs and IADLs and found fewer acute hospitalizations, ER visits, LTC days, and SNF admissions.
  • Maryland participants in a GrandCare program saw a 58% reduction in acute care admission rates, for a savings of $372,672.
  • These Maryland participants also experienced a reduction in the all-cause 30-day readmission rate to 4.5% (compared to the 15.95% state average), for a savings of $25,880. The cost to deliver this technology-enabled care was only $6,600.

Emergency Department Utilization

  • One initiative using GrandCare Technology to manage patients with high emergency department utilization achieved a 75% reduction in ER visits.
  • In a passive technology pilot with nursing home eligible patients at risk of falls and living alone, utilization of ER, long-term care and SNFs were all reduced by at least 10%.

Improved Self-Management

  • A patient population using GrandCare Technology demonstrated 88% adherence to their medical device and medication reminder treatment regimen.
  • Participants using GrandCare reported a willingness to become more engaged and felt an increased awareness in self health.

Improved Satisfaction

  • Participants in the Maryland study reported high levels of patient satisfaction.
  • For patients in the Georgia group, 93% reported satisfaction with services.
  • In a pilot of 22 patients using GrandCare, 100% of respondents agreed with the statement, “I have no difficulty telling others about the benefits of the system.”

Chronic Disease Management

  • Patients using GrandCare with Uncontrolled Diabetes demonstrated improvements, with A1C (blood glucose) values at or below their baseline.
  • In those patients managing Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) with the combination of GrandCare telehealth monitoring and care coaching, 96.5% of them maintained or improved their baseline NYHA classification score.
  • For patients managing Hypertension with GrandCare, care coaching, a BP cuff and telehealth tools, 84% were able to maintain or improve their JNC-7 classification score.

Cost-Effectiveness

  • One study found that the initial investment in technology was recouped in 1-3 years due to reduced costs of care.
  • The total savings in reduced acute admissions was $372,672 for patients using GrandCare with RPM and care management, while the cost to administer this technology-enabled care was $64,500. Leaving the total cost savings at $308,172.

GrandCare facilitates better care, better outcomes, lower costs, while improving patient satisfaction. We always knew that was true. And now we can prove it.

GrandCare Introduces Senior Housing Check-In Button

Many senior living communities spend a lot of man hours calling residents to ensure that they got out of bed and are going to head to breakfast. This clearly is a time consuming process and could be avoided if the residents could simply “check in” when they woke up, eliminating the need for a check-in call.

We wanted to help and let those caregivers log their time and energy doing what they love to do and what they do best, providing passionate care to their residents! So, guess what’s new with GrandCare? Yep, it’s our brand new ‘Group Check-In’ feature, right on your resident’s touchscreen in his/her room.

This optional feature is flexible and can even be configured for groups. Whether it’s your entire building or just the people who live on the east wing, when the check-in feature is enabled for the group, every system in the group will have a check-in button displayed on their screen.

When you enable check-in, you establish the time range for the check-in to occur. A typical example might be between 6 AM and 9 AM. The check-in button will appear on screen during the three hours in between these times. Once it’s been touched, the button disappears for the rest of the day, and reappears the next morning.

At the end of the check-in period, the Group page in the care portal shows a pie chart indicating who checked in and who didn’t. Clicking through the chart to see the check-in failures provides a list of accounts that didn’t check in, along with their phone numbers. Follow-up calls can then easily be placed to the residents to make sure they’re OK. Furthermore, it can be determined who frequently fails to check in, prompting perhaps more proactive and customized services for select residents.

This feature is designed for senior living communities of all kinds. It provides a simple safety check in a non-intrusive way that preserves the resident’s independence and dignity. As often happens at GrandCare, you asked for it, and we couldn’t wait to get it to you.

Community Messages

 

Mary Smith, a resident in your senior housing community, has a package waiting at the front desk. How do you let her know? Already today many residents have called the front desk to see if the mail has arrived and there’s not a quick way to let them know when it actually does come. Today’s Bridge Club meeting has moved from 2PM to 3PM. How do you inform the members? There’s a safety issue in your building and everyone needs to meet in a common area. How do you get everyone’s attention? GrandCare’s new Community Messages. That’s how.

With our new Congregate Message Center you can address all these concerns and more. You can send a message directly to one resident’s touchscreen, to a designated group (e.g. poker group), or to your entire Community at once. You can choose from a canned template message or write your own. It’s as easy as sending an email. Select your recipients, type in a subject and a message body, and send. Your message will pop up, and be prominently displayed on the resident’s touchscreen, accompanied by an optional sound, even if the screen is sleeping when the message arrives. The message remains on the screen until it has been acknowledged by having your residents touch a button on the message.

Emergency messages are even harder to miss. They’re outlined in red, and accompanied by a shrill alarm sound. And, you can be notified which residents didn’t acknowledge the message. This is critical when time is of the essence.

Our new Message Center is just the latest in a group of features designed for senior community living. If you haven’t used Flyers or Community Pictures, you might want to check those out, too. The GrandCare Congregate Message Center will be available soon for any GrandCare care portal users with Group-level or higher roles.

Introducing one of GrandCare’s newest features, “Away Mode”

You asked for it, we’re making it happen.

You already know that GrandCare is the ultimate in senior residence monitoring. It can alert professional and family caregivers if medications are not taken, if there’s no morning activity in the bathroom, or if health readings are out of the norm. But what happens to the alerts when your loved one is away from home on vacation?

To help caregivers avoid a flurry of spurious alerts, we will soon release “Away Mode.” It’s a new way for caregivers to silence text, email and phone call alerts when your senior is away from home. Whether your loved one is on a brief weekend holiday or just gone for the day, your caregiving team will be free of false alarms.

How does it work?

You’ll simply log in to my.grandcare.com (or the GrandCare server for your organization) and navigate to the Details tab on the Account page. Click Activate Away Mode and confirm. (Notice, GrandCare will warn you to ensure you don’t mistakenly activate this Away Mode for someone who is not really away.)

It’s as simple as that.

When your loved one returns, simply log in to deactivate the Away Mode and alerts will continue as they did before. Caregiving is hard work. It’s our business to make things easier and more convenient wherever we can.

Managing the 5 Most Common Health Conditions for Seniors

Today, GrandCare welcomes guest blogger Kim Sharbatz, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Dental Solutions. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us, Kim.

Whether you’re facing the struggles of old age yourself, or you’re concerned for your aged parents or grandparents, you’re likely keenly aware of the stress, confusion, and even fear that can accompany growing older. Not only are health problems more common, but conditions that used to be minor can now take on a much more serious role.

At the same time, no parent wants to feel that they’re a burden on their grown children, and no child wants to take away their parent’s dignity or independence. It’s important to reach a balance. Advancements in senior technology like the GrandCare system help accomplish that balance by providing the means to keep tabs on conditions, so problems can be detected and addressed early, by providing easy, one-touch access to family or professional caregivers, and providing other more passive assurances, like medication reminders and alerts to notify caregivers of abnormal events.

A recent article in Everyday Health listed many of the common health conditions seniors face today.  And GrandCare can help seniors manage all the most common concerns. Here’s how.

1. Arthritis

Dealing with the chronic pain and discomfort that comes with arthritis can be very difficult. In many cases, little can be done to treat this condition beyond pain medication and education on how to maneuver to avoid flare ups.

GrandCare can help in two important ways:

  1. By providing scheduled reminders to take prescribed pain medication at the right time and the right dosage to keep painful flareups at bay,
  2. By using a touchscreen interface that is simple for arthritic hands and fingers to operate.

2. Heart disease

Heart disease has been reported to affect 37% of men and 26% of women over the age of 65. It can range in severity, and unfortunately it doesn’t always offer warning signs before progressing.

A GrandCare system can help those who suffer with heart disease in several ways:

  1. By providing scheduled reminders to take prescribed medication to manage their heart condition,
  2. By providing scheduled reminders for the senior’s use of wellness monitors such as an integrated blood pressure cuff or oximeter, to automatically record readings, and to allow caregivers to monitor the vitals remotely,
  3. By providing alerts to the senior or caregivers when readings haven’t been taken at the proper time, or when readings that fall outside of a defined range,
  4. By providing wall-mounted and wearable “action buttons” that the senior can use to alert family or professional caregivers if they’re experiencing chest pain, or if something is amiss.

3. Cancer

Second only to heart disease as a cause of death in the United States, cancer affects 28% of men and 21% of women over the age of 65. Although treating cancer requires far more than monitoring and managing the disease, there are aspects of treatment that can be made easier and more effective through home health monitoring.

The GrandCare system offers the following features to aid in this difficult health issue:

  1. Scheduled reminders to take what can be a confusing volume of prescription drugs throughout the day, as well as reminders for frequent doctor’s visits,
  2. Integrated access to wellness monitors such as a scale, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, and oximeter, that help seniors and remote caregivers monitor vitals, and see how the body is reacting to treatment.

4. Respiratory diseases

Asthma, emphysema, and COPD, and other respiratory diseases, plague thousands of seniors every day. Whether their individual treatment requires the continual use of oxygen and medications, or adjustments in behavior to manage the disease, it can be difficult to manage.

The GrandCare system offers the following key features to help seniors facing respiratory illness:

  1. Scheduled reminders to take prescription medications, nebulizer treatments, or oxygen as directed,
  2. Wellness monitoring via an oximeter that automatically records and reports pulse and blood oxygen levels, to routinely confirm adequate oxygen,
  3. Automatic alerts to the senior or caregivers when readings haven’t been taken at the proper time, or when vitals readings fall outside of a defined range,
  4. Access to “action buttons” that can alert family or professional caregivers if something is amiss.

5. Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease and other memory decline conditions can be frightening and debilitating, as they can slowly rob an individual of their memories and their ability to function independently.

The GrandCare system offers tools for caregivers that can help preserve an senior’s independence and dignity for as long as possible:

  1. Motion sensors that can confirm the individual is caring for important daily health habits, such as overall hygiene, oral health care, and food preparation,
  2. Contact sensors on doors to alert caregivers if the senior may be wandering during the night, or to verify a visitor has arrived when expected,
  3. Scheduled reminders for any and all daily activities that the individual may have a difficult time managing,
  4. Communication – via voice, video, or text – with family and friends to help alleviate the risk of social isolation,
  5. Games and other tools that can serve to keep the brain active and engaged, staving off the disease’s progression.

GrandCare helps seniors manage common health conditionsIf you or a loved one is facing these or any other common conditions affecting older adults, we know it’s a difficult, stressful situation to deal with. The goal of the GrandCare system is to use technology to help make managing and living with these conditions easier and less stressful, and to help seniors stay healthy and independent longer.

Combined with adequate medical, dental, and psychological health care, and professional nursing care as needed, GrandCare can provide both practical help in managing senior health, and valuable peace of mind for seniors and their caregivers.