Technology Can Take Weight Off Long-Distance Caregivers

This article was published in AgingToday Online as part of a Health and Technology Blog series on January 23, 2012.  My coauthor is Cathy Jo Cress, MSW, founder of GCM (Geriatric Care Managers) Consult, www.cathycress.com, working with groups who want to add or launch GCM businesses.

Nearly 7 million Americans manage the care of a family member or loved-one from across town or around the world. Now they can take advantage of a nearly constant onslaught of new technologies supporting their elder’s desire to age-in-place. While loving care and attention cannot be replaced by technology, such tools can greatly improve quality of life for caregivers and receivers. Evidence suggests technology can reduce the high cost of in-home care and help avoid crises. Most importantly, the time (and money) technology saves can be better spent on personal interaction. Tools geared toward this situation can not only monitor the aging loved one and address emergency situations, but also contribute to peace of mind, a sense of security and enhanced communication. Here’s how:

Care Coordination: Social networking and caregiver websites help adult children and family friends coordinate care. Easy to use and more efficient than an old-fashioned phone-tree, caregivers can create private online communities to safely share medical, financial and legal information, track doctors’ appointments and post messages and photos.

Communication: Smartphones, tablets and computers with webcams make it possible to see how a loved one is faring from any location, and to foster closeness. An elder with no computer experience can receive and print emails and photos on simplified touch-screens and email printers. Elder-friendly cell phones connect faraway care providers with care recipients, allowing greater freedom to roam.

Smart Home Sensors: Unobtrusive residential monitoring systems can be installed that reassure long-distance caregivers a loved one is comfortable, happy, healthy and safe at home. Wireless sensors can monitor and send alerts about a home’s environment and track activity patterns so a caregiver knows when something is awry, whether it be an unusual sleep pattern or a too-warm house during a summer heat wave. Webcams can also be useful for monitoring the home environment as long as privacy issues are considered.

Home Telehealth: Readily available wireless telehealth devices allow remote and customized monitoring of chronic health problems using a Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff, heart rate monitor, weight scale, glucometer, or pulse oximeter. When not controlled, chronic health conditions can lead to emergency room visits, hospitalization or worse. The remote caregiver or medical professional can be alerted by email, text, or phone to deliver timely support when the measurements vary from doctor-established parameters.

Fall Detection: For various reasons, many elders don’t press the life-saving button when they fall; now there are simple devices that automatically alert a caregiver when a loved one falls or when a frail elder has gotten up and needs assistance. Since the length of time an individual spends “down” from a fall is critical, these tools can prevent hospitalizations and difficult recoveries.

Reminders: The distant caregiver no longer needs to nag someone with routine check-ins and reminders, but can rely on services that offer computer-set automated reminder calls as well as “smart” pillboxes that alert and dispense medications. Some even keep the caregiver informed by email or phone when the reminder is not received or medicines are skipped.

Technology is not a set-and-forget remedy or a one-size-fits-all program for addressing the challenges of long-distance caregiving. One must consider the specific home or living situation, as well as the needs of those using these tools. Everyone who participates in an elder’s care should be on board and instructed in how to facilitate the technology’s use. This may include family members, professional care providers, as well as doctors and other medical staff. The goal should be an integrated use of technologies so that they seamlessly support the day-to-day life of those they are intended to support.

Resources

Center for Technology and Aging

Laurie Orlov’s Blog: “Aging in Place Technology Watch” and “Technology Market Overview Report” available here.

LeadingAge Center for Aging Services Technologies

National Alliance for Caregiving and United Healthcare, “e-Connected Family Caregiver: Bringing Technology into the 21^st Century”, January 2011

So Far Away: Twenty Questions and Answers About Long Distance Caregiving

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AGING IN PLACE TECHNOLOGY’S USE BY GERIATRIC CARE MANAGERS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS IN AGING

This blog posting appeared on the Jones and Bartlett publishers “Nursing” blog on August 23, 2011 and is reproduced in it’s entirety herein.   They are the publisher of the Handbook of Geriatric Care Management, 3^rdEdition which includes my new chapter, “Technologies that Support Aging in Place” (Chapter 11) .  

Technology can be used to help seniors and those with special needs to live safely in their home. It has the potential to help our clients to maximize their independence, support professional and family caregivers’ needs, improve the quality of care and quality of life, reduce and limit the cost of health care, and increase efficiency of care.  Chapter 11 of the Handbook of Geriatric Care Management, 3^rd Edition, focuses on how professionals can utilize Technologies that Support Aging in Place in their practice.

For example, telehealth devices or residential monitoring systems can be used to monitor when the older person’s pattern differs from the routine, and send an alarm to a central monitoring location if either health conditions or movement patterns differ from a previously observed or programmed norm.  In this way, a condition that is starting to emerge may be identified before it becomes serious enough to warrant an emergency room visit.

The technologies that can support the care of aging individuals can be divided into the following categories:

• Health and wellness
• Safety and security
• Communication and engagement
• Learning and contribution

The professional in the field of aging who is willing to try new innovations is in a position to recommend affordable technologies that will enable folks to live in the least restrictive environment for as long as possible. The market for technology for aging in place is driven by the combination of an aging population with longer life expectancy, a shortage of physicians and nurses, a mobile population in which families are no longer living in close proximity to one another, and the technological improvements that have occurred in recent years.

“Gerontechnology” is a term that was coined to describe the field that encompasses the design of technology and environment for independent living and social participation of older persons in good health, comfort and safety.  This includes innovative technology that serves an enabling role by:

• Maintaining independence and equality including considerations of residence, mobility, safety, security, communication, activities, and quality of life;
• Supporting well-being and health;
• Realizing individual and collective/social ambitions and needs;
• Keeping an individual embedded in their changing socio-cultural environment;
• Enhancing dignity; and
• Supporting caregivers

Technology can benefit all those involved in a person’s care, including the individual, the care provider, and the person or organization that pays for the care. The benefit to the individual is prolonged independence created by a greater sense of security, improved health and quality of life, and opportunity for social interaction. The benefit to the care provider is greater peace of mind due to increased safety, more contact due to increased communication, and the opportunity for intervention before a crisis occurs. It is presumed that the benefit to the payer, whether it is the client, insurance company, or family, is that overall cost of care is reduced.

Professionals such as Care and Case Managers and Home Care and Home Health organizations who support individuals to maintain their independence at home are uniquely qualified to identify, recommend, implement and prioritize strategies including technology-based solutions.   This is because we as professionals identify deficits in the client’s care and we are also expected to know about available products and services.   As with all of our recommendations, no one solution fits all – there are many creative ways to meet a client’s needs.   My new chapter, “Technologies that Support Aging in Place” (Chapter 11) in the Handbook of Geriatric Care Management, 3^rd Edition, provides many of these creative solutions.

NOTE:  The Jones and Bartlett Blog received an August 26, 2011 comment by industry analyst Laurie Orlov of Aging In Place Technology Watch.  My apologies for not citing the report in the original blog posting.  Aging In Place Technology Watch is the go-to place on the web for the most current information on technology for aging in place and is a regular source of information for information that I share with my readers.

Laurie Orlov says:

August 26, 2011 at 2:32 pm

The categories of technology and material for this were sourced from Aging in Place Technology Watch (http://www.ageinplacetech.com), Market Overview, now updated in 2011.

http://www.ageinplacetech.com/files/aip/Market%20Overview%205-31-2011.pdf

Laurie Orlov
Founder and Principal Analyst
Aging in Place Technology Watch

Good Time to Use a Care Manager

Jane Gross’s New Old Age posting from 4/29 entitled “The Last Place She Expected to Be” resonated with me for more than one reason.   First of all, this article is a great example of when a geriatric care manager can be invaluable.   We are skilled at assessing the client and their needs and knowing the local resources to provide families with options during stressful decision-making moments.  Of course, had a care manager been involved when selecting the original assisted living facility and then with ongoing monitoring, this stressful situation would probably not have happened.  An excellent example of when to get a care manager involved – when things don’t seem too bad, but have the possibility of going downhill fast.

In addition to this article resonating with me as a care manager. it also hit home on a personal level.  I also went through a process where my parent ended up at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale NY when assisted living was no longer an option.  It was good to have been able to make the choice of what nursing home to go to.  For my dad, having a few Picasso’s on the wall didn’t hurt even though he was on Medicaid.  Given his limited choices at the time, he appreciated being there.

Insurance Companies Tackle Aging in Place

Interesting, the big insurance carriers are tackling “Aging in Place“.  Guess they want to mitigate trip and fall hazards before they become a reality!  What is their motivation to help their customers remain in their communities for longer?  Maybe when folks move to a senior community, their insurance premiums drop?   Nevertheless, both the Hartford and MetLife have gerontologists on staff who are working to understand their market.  And, as a result, two sets of reports have come out in the last year.   Links to both of these reports can be found on the 21st Century Care Solutions web site.

The most recent reports were published by the Hartford insurance company with support from MIT’s Age Lab.  These reports are entitled:   Simple Solutions: Practical Ideas and Products to Enhance Independent Living and Modern Ideas, Modern Living: Taking the Next Step in Home Design and Planning for the Lifestyle You Want. The Hartford has done an excellent job in leading boomers, older adults, and those who care about them through a logical and detailed thought process of how to retrofit their homes so that they can “age in place”. The documents focus primarily on standard Universal Design concepts and do a very thorough job in that department. They provide a myriad of resources from which to draw upon and I will certainly keep a copy of it around my office as a resource.

It is interesting to compare the Hartford documents with the recent “Aging in Place 2.0” documents put out by the Metropolitan Life Mature Market Institute. The MetLife documents cover much more ground — they create an entire model for “aging in place” and in addition to addressing the home design issue, also takes into account connections to the world outside the home, including community resources, technology, and transportation and community infrastructure. Overall,I am a proponent of the MetLife’s holistic approach, but can also appreciate the details and large number of ideas provided by the Hartford regarding home modifications.  Considered together, the two are more powerful than the sum of their parts.

Tips for introducing aging in place technology products

I was thrilled to find the “perfect” list of  tips for introducing nearly any aging in place technology product to an older adult who is not technology-oriented.   It’s the result of a pilot study done by the folks who created a device called Memo which is geared towards the care providers of an older adult who has short term memory loss.   I wish that all of the aging in place vendors did similar pilot studies to improve their products.

Here are their tips, verbatim:

• “Products should not be mailed directly to the elder’s home or opened by him or her.  The family (or another caregiver or friendly person) should eliminate the packaging and present it personally.
• The caregiver should become familiar with the device and prepare a little introduction prior to presenting it
• The introduction should occur at a pleasant get-together rather than at a stressful time.
• The introduction should be described as ‘a way we can keep in touch better” or “a way to help us (not you) remember important things” or “something that will help us stay organized”.
• The caregiver should remain and provide a tutorial and give assistance as necessary.
• Including fun and personal messages or uploading photos will ehp the elder see the device as interesting and engaging and they’ll want to look at it often.
• Consider starting with just one or two elements, like the date/time and photos, and add more over time.
• Above all, Memo must not be presented with blame, guilt, criticism, or shame about forgetfulness.
• Reminder messages and To Do lists should be thoughtfully considered and written in a way so as not to alienate or upset the elder (e.g., “all your bills have been paid this month”, rather than “quit worrying about your bills – you paid them”.
• If the elder has an immediate negative reaction, take it lightly, put Memo away immediately and try another time, in another context.
• The caregiver should try to phone a few times in the days afterward and prompt the elder to see the new photos or check out the new widget, walking  them through the process if necessary.”

And, not only did they provide a list of great tips, but they posted a memo describing ways to make sure that the product works well and features that were improved after the pilot study and a list of improvements to expect over the next year based upon input from the crowd at the 2011 American Society on Aging Conference where the product made it’s debut. They also have a very liberal return policy, taking into account the fact that an older adult may be resistant to the product to the point of rendering it useless.

Great job, folks at Memo, I look forward to testing out your product!  

On TV – Caregivers Staying Connected

Technology to help family caregivers stay connected was on TV last night — it’s a sexy enough topic to have been selected for the pilot episode of a show called Handle With Care.  Episode 1 of the show is entitled:  Staying Connected Through Technology.  This show was advertised to highlight the “challenges that family caregivers face with solutions” and is on Retirement Living TV (RLTV), carried by Comcast in my area and probably around the country.  It’s the brain child of Sheri Snelling, former chair of the National Alliance for Caregiving and President of Caregiving Club and will be rebroadcast this summer.  It can also be seen in 3 parts on the Caregiving Club’s web site.

Kudos to Snelling for doing a nice job of weaving a family caregiver’s personal situation with the older adult’s discovery and embracement of technology. The show had its corny moments, but the message came across loud and clear – technology can be fun for a senior who is physically frail but still intellectually engaged.  Products profiled by Snelling and Robin Raskin, technology lifestyle expert, include the Telekin computer, Jitterbug phone and Great Call service, and the HP eprint system.  All three of these products are nicely designed and fit into the category of “design for all” (see Laurie Orlov’s report Connected Living for Social Aging) and “keep it simple stupid” (see Susan Estrada’s guest blog on Aging In Place Technology Watch).   A large portion of the show was also dedicated to the intergenerational service-learning program between PACE University and an assisted living facility in New Rochelle NY, where students worked with seniors one on one to get them comfortable with computers.  This PACE U program was the subject of a fabulous ASA webinar last week – there was a lot learned about how seniors approach computers, the topic of a future blog in this space!

For a computer that was just released earlier this year, we’ve sure been hearing a lot about the Telekin.  It’s a standalone touchscreen computer designed for the “technically challenged” – seniors and those with developmental and physical disabilities.  The screen has live “buttons” that allow users to play games, email, share photos, video chat, check a calendar, read the news, get the weather, and surf the web.  The show provided an excellent example of how the Telekin gave the Senior a new “window on the world”.  After a 7 week one-on-one training program with a college student, he was able to stay in touch with friends, keep up with the news, and have visual communication with his family.  The family member loved it because it helped her feel less guilty for not being there, gave her peace of mind, and gave her the ability to see how the elder’s health was.  It’s not all that expensive (home version sells for $699 and multi-user version sells for $999).

Everyone loves the Jitterbug by Great Call.  They keep adding services, and they’ve figured out the senior market. It’s simple, has easy to understand commands,and has a large keypad, and various services including operator assistance, automated wellness reminder calls, daily health tips and a live nurse.  From my experience, this phone is likely too advanced for someone with dementia, but for someone capable of learning new things, it’s great.  The guy on the show was very excited about his first shiny red cell phone and the daughter-in-law said she would buy it for him.

A true sleeper product, the HP ePrint system can be used as a “digital post office”.   No computer is needed; all the receiving end needs is an internet connection.  The printer has it’s own email address and using it’s own touch screen, it’s possible to surf and print from the web, download web “apps” and receive email from any smartphone or computer.  There’s no other cost involved beyond the printer and some toner.  Family members can email photos and other information to the printer, and with a little training on a small touch screen, the person on the receiving end can find a few things on the web.

All in all, a good topic to tempt family caregivers (and care professionals) with so that they’ll watch future episodes of the show.  Snelling and Raskin chose some nice safe products that work well to demonstrate that technology can really improve quality of life.  It’s great that these products are generally available either on-line or in large chain stores. In my humble option, a great suite of products for professionals in the home care field to consider for their clients who are mentally sharp, or even for a client supported by an in-home caregiver who would enjoy sitting with their client for some computer play or taking printouts off the electronic mailbox to share with the client.   I, for one, will be setting my DVR to catch this show next week to see what family caregiver issue is presented next!

Protecting Our Parents

I was pleased to see that the June 2011 issue of Money Magazine had a series on “Protecting Your Parents”.  The first part – How you can help by Penelope Wang, focuses on what researchers are learning about how seniors handle finances and how family members can lend a hand or help with financial decision-making. The second, Keep your aging parents safe at home, by Kim Clark, provides an overview of the technical innovations that can prolong independence and help caregivers be more effective, even from a distance.

Why was I pleased?  Well, a disclosure is in order here —  I was interviewed for and quoted in the second part of the article as a professional care manager and expert in aging in place technology. Being included in the article is not the only reason that I was pleased.  As someone who has chosen to focus on supporting both elders and their families with care, finances and technology, it is great to see such well written and researched articles put forth by a national magazine. People need help and the information offered by these articles is becoming “mainstream”. There will be a 3rd article in this series coming out later this summer, with information on how families can protect their loved ones against elder financial abuse.

The main idea that the first article puts forth is that it is important for the older adult to retain as much financial independence as possible.  It provides family members with a strategy for how they can start to get involved without actually taking over.  In my work as a Private Professional Fiduciary and Care Manager, I often support clients during the transition towards getting more help, either with financial or care issues.  A family member may have noticed that help is needed, or a report has been submitted to a government social service agency such as Adult Protective Services by someone concerned about the elder.  It is never an easy process. As a professional, I am there to help the older adult (my client) and to help the family figure out what help is needed.

And, as readers of this blog already know, I strongly believe that technologies can help older adults to remain at home for longer and at lower cost.  Kim Clark’s article provides an excellent overview of different types of products, nearly all of which I have tested and can make available to those who are interested.  Many of these devices are either covered by Long Term Care Insurance or medical insurance if prescribed by a medical professional.  The version of the MedReady carousel-shaped electronic pillbox which I can provide connects directly to a call center, so if the medication is not taken, the older adult gets a friendly reminder call, and if they don’t, the next person on the list is contacted.  A call center also calls the older adult if they have fallen while wearing the MyHalo automatic fall detection monitor.   The BeClose system is an inexpensive, wireless motion sensor system which sends very simple reports to a smartphone or email account.  I can help folks figure out whether this or a more complex system is needed.  And finally, IdealLife, a telehealth device that automatically transmits data from various peripherals, such as blood pressure, weight, or oxygen to the caregiver.    These are all great systems.  Keep an eye out on the 21st Century Care Solutions SHOP Page during the next few weeks to find these and many more products.  Or, subscribe to this blog or our twitter feed and you will be notified automatically.

Web-based Care Coordination Tool?

I was asked the following question today – is there a client management product that can be used for Care Coordination — either on a Mac or PC, which would make it possible for long distance caregivers or distant family members to share notes, for a professional care manager or home care agency to post reports, upload documents that others on the care team may need, put activities on a schedule to see what mom and dad are up to, etc.  The idea is that instead of lots of emails back and forth there would be a place on the web where family members and the care team can go. Everyone would have a password so that they could sign in to and see updates at any time. Wouldn’t this be great?

The question made me think of my favorite graph from the National Alliance of Caregiving eConnected Family Caregiver Study that came out this past January.  The graph shows what technologies family caregivers would find helpful, or if there were barriers to their use.  The top two technologies that family caregivers thought would be helpful and would be the easiest for them to use were:  Personal Health Record Tracking and a Caregiver Coordination System both of which could be handled by the tool my colleague was asking about.  Interesting, no?

eConnected Family Caregivers Study, National Alliance for Caregiving, January 2011

So, what’s the answer to my colleague’s question?  Well, there are a bunch of products being developed that can support care coordination but there aren’t too many  yet.  These are basically personal networks, which is a type of social network like Facebook that is designed for caregiving and can be accessed only by specific people.   They are different from other social networks because the personal information is never disclosed to anyone outside the private network.

There are a couple that I can think of –  MyRemCare and Tyze.

RemCare is intended for professionals and keeps track of everything including medication lists and other health information, care provider notes, schedule, and reports and photos of client activities.  Last I checked, the cost for a single user was as high as $50/month but the cost goes down for multiple users (i.e. multiple clients, not multiple users on one account).  Also, some home care and home health agencies include it for free if you hire their care provider – a very nice value added as long as the agency and care provider otherwise does a good job.  The company web site mentions that home care agencies such as Home Instead, Senior Helpers, and Right At Home use this product; I personally have access to it through a client who has a care provider with BrightStar Care.  Care managers could also offer this service to clients as well and if it is a high need client it may be worth offering it at reduced cost.

The company that does MyRemCare has recently evolved to offer another great looking product called “Care Team Connect” – an enhanced case management product that is geared towards care transitions for Accountable Care Organizations and Patient-centered medical homes.   Care transitions will be the topic of another blog it’s an entirely different topic.

Tyze networks are private, personal, online environments that coordinate involvement. They help families, friends, neighbours, and professionals develop what they call a connected circle of care around an individual or community. This product includes private document storage and sharing, private email conversations, a calendar to schedule everything from birthdays to medical appointments, a list of goals and tasks as well as a virtual “to do” list and a place to share pictures and stories.  Cost is $129/year for unlimited access by everyone in the network.

Tyze is intended for all of the following groups:

• Adult children caring for their aging parents.
• People experiencing acute or chronic illness.
• Families supporting a member with a disability.
• Individuals facing a life challenge.
• Professional care providers seeking to provide coordinated care.
• People seeking to enrich their connections with family and friends.

There are a bunch of lower cost or free tools such as LifeLedger, eCareDiary, and CaringBridge – Each of these does a great job but none of them has all of the tools in one place like MyRemcare and Tyze do.   There are more products like this coming soon and I can’t wait to check them out and share them here.

I’d love to hear whether readers like any of these products and what else has worked for you.

Commercial Integrators Need Us

Commercial integrators are poised to enter the Aging in Place technology market.   An article in this week’s “Commercial Integrator” online magazine, Healthcare Goes High Tech says that this is a market sector with “unlimited potential for growth”.  The article provides a good overview of home monitoring systems and some of the issues that technology integrators face when adding this market sector to their business.

The key that I hope that integrators do not miss is the point that was made by Stacy Pierce, director of the Peace of Mind Alternatives (POMA) division of The Oaks, an independent and assisted living community in Orangeburg, SC.  Stacy is a pioneer – background as a Certified Occupational Therapist with an extensive background working with seniors – delved into the home monitoring market a few years back and has developed a unique business installing Grand Care systems and providing other aging in place technologies.   She says she has so much work at the moment that she is thinking of using a commercial integrator to do the installations for her but expresses concern that integrators don’t completely understand this market.  She says:  “what integrators really need to understand is that this is a caregiver business” and “A lot of [integration] companies may be looking at this market because their business in other markets is off, but what they have to understand is that you’re not just installing and walking away. You’re becoming part of the family. You’re with them till death.”   I hope that Ms. Pierce’s guidance is heard by commercial integrators as working with seniors and their families is not a simple install and walk away proposition.

What does this mean to me?  I believe that this speaks to an opportunity for both integrators and those of us who are in the senior care field.  A team approach is needed where a specialist in care issues and family systems (like a care or case manager – a professional with extensive experience working with seniors and their families typically with a background in social work, nursing or gerontology) can do an assessment and work with the integrator to get a system installed and running.  The case manager can then work with the care team to make sure that the system is working well.  As the research shows, technology for aging in place is not a set and forget proposition. As I have suggested before, new business models need to be created, so that the consumer is the one who ultimately wins.

Aging In Place Technology Marching Orders

Too much or not enough?  I dropped in for at least a few minutes of most of Laurie Orlov’s seven(!) sessions at the American Society on Aging – 2011 Aging in America Conference and the What’s Next Boomer Summit in San Francisco a couple of weeks back.  Last but not least was the session that she had invited me to participate in, “Technology for Seniors at Home:  Who and What Makes it Work“ (there must be interest in this, it was attended by Gail Sheehy, the latest poster-woman for family caregiving and recipient of the ASA award for the individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of aging).  Part I describing my session is the subject of my 5/7 guest blog on Laurie’s Aging in Place Technology Watch.  Today’s is devoted to Laurie’s recurring and emphatic message which resonated to me like marching orders. Her message was also repeated in her Aging in Place Technology Watch piece on 5/1.

The recurring message was that those in the room (every single room) are responsible for turning the technology for aging in place industry from a task oriented “cottage” industry to a “cathedral-builder’s” industry of innovation and creativity (think flying buttresses).  This analogy was put forth in 2006 in the inspiring article by Joseph Coughlin of MIT’s Age-Lab’s article, Cathedral Builders Wanted:  Constructing a New Vision of Technology for Old Age.  The message is that the aging and technology business is made up of a bunch of cottage industries fulfilling some basic task or need that need to develop vision and think bigger, beyond the basic health and safety requirements and towards a “comprehensive approach to longevity”.

Get the word out.  Orlov said that not enough is being done to get the word out that there are tech products for the home.  Aging service professionals are seeing the potential of these products for their parents, not their elderly constituents. She encouraged them to get their organizations to start thinking more creatively about how to accomplish this.  I completely agree with her, change needs to come from within the aging services industry, and the vendors (such as those in the Aging Technology Alliance – AGETEK) need to support making it easy to get products out there.  Her message brings to mind the Center for Aging Services Technologies (now known as LeadingAge CAST) “Imagine – the Future of Aging – Vision Video Discussion Guide”  from 2008 that prophetically laid out a strategy for professionals to get their organizations to start adopting technology.  I wonder who read that report (aside from myself) and used those recommendations?  It’s worth checking out.   Being naïve, I referenced the CAST report in my own publications and at professional conferences including the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers and the Professional Fiduciary Association of California. Back then, the eldercare professionals who I spoke to were excited about this message, but I was told by leaders in the field that I was “ahead of my time”.  It is now starting to make sense.  Most aging professionals are waiting to be told what products truly work before they recommend them to their clients.

Back to Orlov’s mantra.  She repeatedly described the “digital divide” and emphasized the need to focus on the 75+ market, not the 65+ market because this population doesn’t have broadband or video, they’re not looking at apps on their smartphones and they are sadly not Skyping.  Connections between seniors and providers need to be tightened and the caregiving world needs to have an overlay of technology.  Products should be simple to use and intuitive.  She went on to make the following recommendations to providers of aging services:

1. The home security system is the most basic type of technology that all homes should have.
2. Find the cheapest internet service plan and get it for your client.
3. Make friends with a good IT person (or a technology integrator).
4. Get a computer for your client, a simple one with a touchscreen (e.g. the Telekin Touch or Pointerware) with video calling, email, and internet capability.

Little by little.  All of this being said, it may be easier for the professionals in the aging field to start with task-oriented products that are easy to install such as the Presto Printing Mailbox or MyCelery for email without a computer, a senior friendly cell phone such as Jitterbug or the Doro Phone Easy, a wifi-enabled Photo Frame, motion sensor systems such as BeClose and SimplyHome, finder devices such as EmFinders or the Alzheimers Association Comfort Zone, fall detection/plus devices such as MyHalo or AFrame Digital, or what about putting a tablet (iPad or other) into a client’s home for the care provider to use…(there are so many possibilties…)

OK folks, we have our orders, so let’s put our best foot forward and MARCH!