Technology that helps keep older adults, including those desiring to thrive in their home of choice, healthy and independent is gaining adoption, and the 2016 LeadingAge Annual Meeting & EXPO reflected this growing trend, as clearly demonstrated in session Today’s Real-Time Technology Trends, which shared highlights of the Technology Adoption Data from the 2016 LeadingAge-Ziegler 150 Report.
Sixteen technology-related sessions were part of the meeting, held Oct. 30 through Nov. 2, 2016, in Indianapolis, IN.
CAST Partners, Supporters, Patrons, Associates, and staff members were featured. Their sessions reached across the technology as well as the services and setting spectrums, ranging from telehealth and data security to resident engagement and dementia care.
CAST Supporters, Patrons, and Business Associates Led Meeting Sessions
LeadingAge and CAST Partners, as well as CAST Supporters and Patrons, led six Annual Meeting sessions:
- Leveraging Telehealth Technologies for Care Transitions
- Today’s Real-Time Technology Trends
- IT Security and Risk Management
- The Birdsong Initiative: Engagement Through Customized Technology
- The Intersection of Technology and Dementia
- Data Breach Lawsuits and Enforcement Actions
Four CAST Associates presented educational sessions on these topics:
- Socialization Technology: Bridging the Senior Digital Divide
- Tele-Rehabilitation: The Gamification of Physical Therapy
- Mining Wi-Fi Data for Insights About Your Community
- The Implementation of an Integrated Electronic Health Record
CAST Session
Functional Assessment and Activity Monitoring: Provider Case Studies: In CAST’s special Annual Meeting session, Associate Director Scott Code and I explained the different types of commercially available functional assessment and activity monitoring technologies for long-term care and post-acute care settings. We also demonstrated CAST’s Functional Assessment and Activity Monitoring Selection Tool.
CAST Commissioner Kelly Soyland, director of innovation and research, at LeadingAge Member and CAST Patron The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in Sioux Falls, SD, discussed the organization’s innovation journey, experience in, and outcomes of activity monitoring technology.
Additional Sessions
Other technology sessions addressed the following topics:
- Using Predictive Mobile Technology to Drive Quality Improvement
- The Technology Tidal Wave: Are You Prepared?
- Supporting Health and Wellbeing Through Mobile Wellness Technology
- Linking Data to Wellness: A Personalized Approach to Wellbeing
- Home Assessment Systems for Improved Safety and Independence
CAST & Technology Professionals’ Reception
We also had great attendance, conversations and networking between CAST Commissioners, Associates, CAST Associates and Technology Professionals from LeadingAge provider member organizations. Here is a photo for some of CAST Commissioners and staff with Katie Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge at outside the reception.
Shared Care Planning and Coordination Selection Tool and the Next Tool
Another CAST offering that is gaining attention is the new Shared Care Planning and Coordination Technology tools, which was released in October and is featured in Long Term Living magazine late last month. This portfolio of tools is designed to help long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) organizations plan for and select shared care planning and coordination technology. Read our
article on this valuable tool.
CAST Supporter Case Studies
Two recent case studies show the benefits of technology in action:
Wireless Communication System Boosts Resident Quality of Life and Staff Efficiencies explains how Christian Living Communities (CLC) upgraded its nurse call paging system. The new resident/nurse call solution and staff communication system that is a touch-screen-based, easy-to-use mobile solution. It has cut response times by 50% to 70% and improved resident, family, and staff satisfaction, among other positive outcomes.
We also bring you news from
Rendever, which is bringing virtual reality to older adults to help them retrieve memories and experience new places.
Also in This Issue
Additional news from the LeadingAge Annual Meeting comes from the following:
Be sure to read our article about how CAST Business Associates Announced New Management Dashboards, Alliances, and an Executive at LeadingAge Annual Meeting:
Sodexo and Connected Living, which teamed up to connect America’s seniors with their families, friends and communities digitally.
Stanley Healthcare, which recently unveiled a new web-based management dashboard for its Arial Emergency Call platform.
MatrixCare, which appointed former Cerner executive Gary Pederson to fuel continued growth in the life plan community market.
Funding Opportunity
We also share a funding opportunity from The Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CC-ABHI). The center is inviting project proposals for the validation testing of products, processes, services, and/or technologies in key care-need areas related to older adults living with dementia—falls prevention, reducing or avoiding unnecessary emergency department visits, and better managing complex chronic conditions for those who are living at home—as well as improving brain health or cognitive fitness in older adults.
Feel Free to Contact Me
I hope you enjoy these and other articles in this issue of Tech Time. Please contact me with any questions for comments.