Senior Living News Wire

Seniors today are looking for high-tech offerings in their residences, and builders and developers need to take note. From wireless availability to health monitoring systems, technology is one of the key trends in the senior housing industry, both now and in the future.

“What we’re seeing, especially in assisted living, is that seniors are beginning to ask for wireless,” said Freddi Flax, a principal with RICKSTEPHAN & Associates, a senior housing consulting firm. “We’re all getting more tech-friendly, and seniors are no different.”

Flax emphasizes that seniors and their families see wireless access as more of a necessity than a luxury, since the computer is a way to get information, connect with family members, and go through daily life.

“It’s becoming more like a television,” Flax said. “They turn on the TV for news, but they’ll also go to the computer.”

Even before they get to a facility, seniors and their families are turning to websites for information, and increasingly these sites need to be interactive and engaging in order to get them to visit and find out more information.

Once they move in, seniors are increasingly using smartphones and other mobile devices to track their health and communicate with friends and families, and there are many apps available geared specifically toward seniors and their needs, including everything from health-monitoring apps to medical information apps. They’re also using e-book readers, tablets, and other digital technology, and so facilities need to consider having tech-savvy employees on staff who can help them when they run into technological glitches.

Seniors and their families are also looking for high-tech gadgetry in their rooms and facilities, including health sensors, monitors, and computer-based tracking of medications and care. The more cutting-edge its built-in technology, the more appealing the residence—since seniors and families know that the more technologically-advanced a facility is, the better care it will be able to provide.

“There are always advances on the medical technology end,” said Flax. “I see it as a real plus.”

Gone are the days, in other words, when only teenagers were wired. Seniors are as high-tech as anyone, and they expect retirement communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes to have all the amenities of home. And increasingly, those amenities include wireless access, gadgets, and gear.

Written By Vivian Wagner

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) recently held an event at Mega Web, its vehicle display space and theme park located in Tokyo, Japan, to display four new robots that were developed to provide support in nursing and healthcare.

The robots are a part of the Toyota Partner Robot series that’s being developed to assist humans in their every day activities, including nursing and health care, short-distance personal transport, manufacturing, and domestic duties.

For these particular robots, TMC said it “aims to support independent living for people incapacitated through sickness or injury, while also assisting in their return to health and reducing the physical burden on caregivers.”

Some features of the robots include the Independent Walk Assist, for people whose ability to walk has been impaired by leg paralysis or other causes, and the Walk Training Assist, which implements the Independent Walk Assist’s technology to support return to natural walking, from early training stages, for people with impaired walking.

Additionally, TMC displayed a robot that assists people whose balance has been impaired, as well as a Patient Transfer Assist that reduces the physical burden on caretakers when moving patients.

These nursing and healthcare robots were developed in collaboration with Fujita Health University Hospital in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, which provided TMC feedback on the needs of specialized medical facilities to use in the design of the robots, said the company.

TMC plans to accelerate further development of the robots while keeping medical staffs’ feedback in consideration, and aims for commercialization starting in 2013.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

LightSquared, a wholesale carrier building a nationwide wireless broadband network and CareConnect have signed an agreement to bring high speed mobile data services to its customers.

Operating on LightSquared’s nationwide network, CareConnect will be able to deploy the most advanced wireless services available. Residents in CareConnect communities will be able to access daily schedules, receive community updates, surf the web and communicate with family over video chat.

“The senior population in the U.S. is growing, and their need for advanced communications, information and entertainment is also growing,” said Jerry Grove, president of ESCO Technologies/CareConnect. “By partnering with LightSquared, we gain access to a great network that enables us to quickly and cost-effectively deploy new mobile services on the latest devices.”

“We selected LightSquared because of its world-class 4G LTE network, open interfaces, wholesale-only model, and attractive economics,” added Chris Lutts, vice- president, networks and operations at ESCO Technologies.  ”LightSquared is a critical component of our mobile broadband strategy.”

LightSquared is a wholesale only nationwide 4G-LTE network that is integrated with satellite coverage and designed to provide connectivity anywhere in the United States.

Written by John Yedinak

Touch-free connected care innovator BAM Labs recently launched the Touch-free Life Care System that converts any conventional bed into a “smart” bed. The system lets caregivers remotely monitor residents based on their health management needs without having to attach anything to the patient’s body.

The TLC sensor mat is placed under the mattress and continuously transmits the person’s “bio-signal” to the TLC analysis cloud; the system then analyzes this data to track heart rate, breathing rate, motion and presence. It incorporations multiple applications supporting health management programs including fall reduction, pressure sore prevention and rehabilitation programs.

Caregivers can monitor a group of people at all times as they go about their duties; they can receive notifications about scheduled position changes and movement alerts on their computers or mobile devices, including iPods and iPads.

Go here for more information.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

ActiveCare, Inc. (ACAR.OB) has secured a $10 million equity line of credit funding from a group of European investors.

Led by Sapina, LTD., the funding is expected to help strategically align ActiveCare as a leader in the senior care market. The company plans to use the funding to complete a significant R&D project and realign the sales force to take advantage of its new direction.

“I am pleased with the support that we have received from the investment community that will enable us to focus our efforts on building ActiveCare into becoming the leader in assisting seniors in staying in their own homes another three to five years,” said David S. Boone, ActiveCare’s newly appointed Chief Executive Officer. “I look forward to continually updating the investment community on our progress and execution which will be made over the coming weeks and months.”

The terms of the funding agreement are in the form of an equity line of credit with $5 million being funded by November 15, 2011 and the remainder to be taken down by the Company at its option once certain business development milestones have been achieved.

Written by John Yedinak

Health care merger and acquisition volume totaled $58.9 billion in the third quarter of 2011, placing the sector on pace to strongly surpass its volume in 2010. Having seen $185.9 billion to date in 2011, heath care M&As should exceed last years activity by about 20%, says Levin Associates’ Health Care M&A Report for the third quarter, published last week.

“While M&A activity may have slipped in other industries this year, just the opposite is true in health care,” said Sanford Steever, editor of The Health Care M&A Report.

Of the third quarter volume total, technology deals comprised 41% of the activity while medical devices represented 22%. The market for devices continues to perform, Steever said.

“Strategic buyers have strong balance sheets while financial buyers have equally healthy war chests, and with interest rates low, they both want to put these funds to work. While they once used this money to fund start-ups and basic R&D, recent concerns over a longer and more arduous regulatory approval process have made those uses of capital less attractive,” noted Mr. Sanford Steever. “They are instead focusing on growth by acquiring more mature companies with innovative technologies and established revenue streams.”

The largest deal during the quarter involved the proposed combination of pharmacy benefits managers Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions—for $29.1 billion.

“Since acquisitions can wring out unwanted costs and find new efficiencies, such combinations may well offer a win-win for companies and consumers alike,” said Levin Associates Managing Editor Stephen Monroe, of the deal. “This kind of a deal may well serve as a model for others in the health care services sectors who seek to hold costs down while expanding their service offerings.”

This year will take its place among the top five years for health care M&A, the report states.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker

Independa, Inc., a telehealth innovator, recently closed a seed round of venture capital funding that to date has raised $1.6 million for the company as it prepares for a major expansion in services for independent seniors.

The funding came from private investors and Southern California venture capital firms Miramar Venture Partners and City Hill Ventures. Independa also received $200,000 in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank.

Current investors have unanimously authorized raising an additional $600,000 in venture capital funding because of strong interest the company continues to garner from other potential investors, says Independa. The company will use this funding to support ongoing development of its product line, build its market-distribution channel and go to market with pilot programs for customers, said CEO Kian Saneii.

“We consider this funding a strong endorsement of Independa’s expansion and growth strategy,” said Saneii in a statement. “It leaves us well-positioned to continue broadening our integrated telecare platform prudently as we take advantage of mounting interest in telehealth solutions in general and in elder care in particular.”

Independa plans to add wireless health and safety sensors to its platform later this year, which will follow its launch of a personal interaction solution for the independent elderly, which provides “important social engagement” that helps seniors to continue to remain safely at home.

The tablet-based service offers an intuitive interface with secure, one-touch access to video chats, email, the Internet, Facebook, games and puzzles, and other interactive content. It also adds visual notifications to existing telephone alerts as options for receiving reminders, as well as confirmation to caregivers that reminders have been acknowledged and confirmed, closing a daily communication loop for medication compliance.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation (CFI) recently announced that Best Buy is the founding consortium member of a new “living lab” in the Charter House, a Rochester continuing care retirement community.

The Mayo Clinic CFI is collaborating with the Mayo Clinic’s Robert and Arlene Kogod Center for Aging and the Charter House to further aging in place initiatives by creating the Healthy Aging & Independent Living (HAIL) Lab. The lab will be used for focus groups, designing, prototyping and piloting new services and technologies with voluntary participation from Charter House residents, as well as other community agencies.

“The goal of the HAIL Lab is to understand the needs of seniors and develop products and services that will help them live longer, more independent lives,” says Nicholas LaRusso, M.D., medical director of the Mayo Clinic CFI.

Best Buy’s participation in the consortium follows its exploration of the potential growth of wireless-enabled health-related devices.

“We believe technology has the potential to foster healthy, productive lives by enabling easier access to information and medical care,” says Kurt Hulander, senior director of health platforms at Best Buy. “Our partnership with Mayo Clinic will help us better understand the full potential for health technologies with patients who need them most.”

Best Buy has already made investments into the health and wellness technologies arena, expanding its portfolio of health-related retail offerings with blood pressure monitors, pedometers, fitness watches and other connected devices.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

OnShift, Inc., a software program allowing long-term care and senior living providers to schedule staff and manage shifts, has expanded its service platform to include the iPad.

The innovation is expected to help directors of nursing, administrators, schedulers, and others in long-term care and senior living to save time and improve efficiency by giving them the ability to access, view, create, update, and manage schedules and staffing information from any device.

The iPad platform allows for mobility in sending open shift messages to qualified and available staff via text, email and automated phone call.

“Our on-call nurses can have scheduling at their fingertips with OnShift on the iPad. A few taps will eliminate hours of phone calls trying to find replacements when someone calls off. Open shifts can happen anytime, anywhere, and we are really looking forward to the convenience of OnShift on the iPad,” stated Michele Brown, administrator, The Neighborhoods at Quail Creek.

In addition to open shift management, all OnShift capabilities are available on the iPad, including scheduling, overtime prevention, and reporting; the program predicts overtime and understaffing and helps senior care operators to stay on top of staffing needs.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

AARP awarded two $18,500 scholarships to entrepreneurs focused on meeting the needs and wants of the growing baby boomer population.

The companies were invited to present their ideas on stage at the DEMO Conference, a tech industry event earlier this week.

“AARP is continually looking for new ways to shape and transform society so that aging Americans are living their best lives. What’s more, the baby boomer generation includes more than 78 million people, who like most of us welcome solutions that help make life a bit easier and less complex,” said Jody Holtzman, Senior Vice President, AARP Thought Leadership.

SenseAide and Medication Intelligence will both receive the scholarships to further develop their products.

SenseAide is a new consumer technology that could help family and professional caregivers stay in contact with people in need of care. The technology is designed to help address issues of health care quality, isolation and security, while offering collaborative planning tools.

Medication Intelligence is proposing a new consumer technology to help individuals and their doctors better manage multiple medications. Unlike current medication management systems that require manual input of medication data, the new application would allow for the automatic entry of data from pharmacy websites.

“The rigorous selection process for DEMO presenters means that all participants must meet various criteria in order to present their innovations to the wider conference audience. We’re pleased that AARP acted proactively in seeking out talented individuals to make it possible for them to be involved in our conference,” said Neal Silverman, executive producer of DEMO’s fall 2011 conference.

Written by John Yedinak

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Indiana University with a $500,000 grant earmarked for helping researchers to understand how technologies can assist underserved older adults as they age in place.

“The shifting demographics associated with an aging population require novel solutions to meet the health needs of the growing number of older adults around the world,” said Kay Connelly, an associate professor in the School of Informatics and Computing and one of the grant’s recipients. “Since caring for individuals in assisted-living and long-term care facilities costs nearly twice that of care for their non-institutionalized counterparts, and older adults prefer to stay in their own home, technologies that support aging in place are one way to address these pressing problems.”

Connelly, along with fellow grant recipient and Principal Research Scientist Kelly Caine, the co-directors of the Pervasive Health Information Technology (PHIT) lab, say their research will focus primarily on the groups at the highest risk for extensive care and services, i.e., individuals from rural areas and underprivileged urban areas.

“Of those two subpopulations, rural individuals make up one fifth of the elderly population and are at the highest risk for requiring long-term care services and support,” Caine said in a statement. “Similarly, urban-dwelling older adults in low-socioeconomic-status neighborhoods often experience higher rates of functional loss and poorer overall health outcomes. Thus, there is a lot of room to help both of these groups.”

The project is meant to provide community members, service providers, and governmental agencies with guidance on how to use technology in such a way as to enable those populations to age in place.

After customizing a suite of technologies to the specific needs of the two populations, the researchers will assess how those seniors use and adjust to the technologies, and then determine how that may help them to age in place.

Connelly and Caine received the grant through the NSF’s new Smart Health and Wellbeing program, which gave out 21 awards in its first year to teams from institutions such as MIT, Georgia Tech, and Carnegie-Mellon.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

The National Institute of Health/National Institute on Aging awarded a grant to AFrame Digital for further research in falls reduction using its wireless mobile care monitor platform.

Along with the University of Virginia and Vinson Hall, a retirement community in McClean Virginia, the groups will monitor 30 residents in their normal living environment so that researchers can capture true daily living activities.

“We are strongly supportive of falls reduction research,” said RADM Kathleen L. Martin, USN (Ret), CEO of Vinson Hall Retirement Community. “We feel this research could play a significant role in predicting and preventing falls. It could ultimately improve the quality of life by keeping older adults mobile and independent not only in retirement communities but wherever they reside.”

“Real time continuous monitoring of gait for the risk of falls must encompass normal activities of daily living. The new study will help differentiate between a wearer’s daily activities and his or her walking. Once periods of walking can be isolated, further progress can be made in the real time analysis of abnormal gait,” said Dr. Amy Papadopoulos, AFrame Digital Senior Research Scientist and PI on the research grant.

UVA will provide the facilities needed to evaluate and test both the hardware and software systems.

“Our primary goal for this research,” says Papadopoulos, “is to develop the ability to automatically separate periods of walking from other daily activities in real time. We will use machine learning techniques to recognize an individual’s own walking pattern. Once that goal is met, we hope to develop a means of analyzing and trending an individual’s gait in real time from data gathered as they go about their lives. This analysis could in turn lead to fewer falls and trips to the emergency room and dramatically improve the lives of millions of people and our nation’s aging population allowing them to live fuller independent lives.”

The number of adults using social media sites increased to 65%, according to a report from a new national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

It’s the first time more than 50% of all adults said they’re using the sites, and a dramatic increase from the first survey in 2005, which showed that just 8% of internet users or 5% of all adults said they used them.

While 61% of users aged 30 or older reported they use social networking site on a typical day, it remained relatively flat over the last year.  Baby Boomers (ages 50-64) on the other hand reported that social networking site usage on a typical day grew a significant 60% (from 20% to 32%).

“The graying of social networking sites continues, but the oldest users are still far less likely to be making regular use of these tools,” said Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist and co-author of the report. “While seniors are testing the waters, many Baby Boomers are beginning to make a trip to the social media pool part of their daily routine.”

Usage by those 65 and older grew more than any other group, with 33% of the cohort saying they use the sites, up from 26% last year.

In the past two years, social networking site use among internet users age 65 and older has grown 150%, from 13% in April 2009 to 33% in May 2011. Similarly, during this same time period, use by 50- to 64-year-old internet users doubled—from 25% to 51%.

View the report.

ESCO Technologies LLC recently announced the launch of a Channel Partner program for its CareConnect telecommunications services, which are only offered to senior living communities.

The program offers partners high, uncapped commissions paid upfront on long term contracts, typically lasting 10 years.

The company points out that the senior housing industry, which is expected to experience strong growth throughout the next 20 years, is primarily untapped by channel partners, resulting in minimal competition.

“Our niche, senior housing, is not one to which many channel partners have tried to sell, so there is a huge, untapped market just waiting to be approached,” said Gary Rolfsen, Vice-President of Ales & Channel Development at ESCO. “The average contract is quite large. Since senior living communities typically have several hundred residents, all of whom want telephone and other services we offer like TV and Internet, the contracts we sign are often larger than those that channel partners are used to securing. We feel this will be attractive to the channel.”

CareConnect is the top telecommunications provider to senior housing communities in the United States. The channel partner program officially launched at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, held Wednesday, Aug. 24. CareConnect says the number of partners may be limited to “first come, first serve,” depending on strength of interest.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

Lexington Health Care Network recently announced plans to incorporate WellAWARE Systems’ Sleep Well Be Well program and advanced “smart sensor” technology into its independent and assisted living communities.

Illinois-based Lexington Health, which manages more than 2,000 skilled nursing beds in 10 different long-term care buildings, will integrate the program into its Lexington Square Senior Residence properties.

“Lexington Health Network is committed to providing personalized, high-quality healthcare for our senior residents. As the level of acuity in both independent and assisted living continues to rise, we needed to find a new approach to care delivery and create a new standard of care,” said Dale Zaletel, CEO of Lexington Health Network, in a statement.

The program uses data about residents’ wellness and health to alert caregivers to emergent health conditions, which may prevent emergency room visits and hospital admissions. This in turn can significantly improve health-related outcomes, lower costs, and also increase occupancy.

“This focus on a new standard of care is resulting in reduced costs, improved care quality and increased lengths of stay,” said Jeff Noce, CEO of WellAWARE Systems.

Written by Alyssa Gerace