The same holds true today, more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began. But now many of these technologies have a healthcare focus, and adoption has accelerated among residents of all stripes, Alwan says.
“Older adults who may have resisted technology were baptized by fire, so to speak, when they had to use it for telehealth or to connect with family and friends,” he says.
LeadingAge’s membership includes more than 5,000 nonprofit aging- services providers, Alwan says. “Based on what we’ve heard from them, they don’t think we’ll ever go back to the way things were. Telemedicine, biometric monitoring, applications that remind people to take their medications — these are all now part of what they’re starting to see as the new normal.”
Older Adults ‘Excited’ About Technology
Maryland-based Asbury Communities is among those organizations that are increasingly incorporating technology into the older adult resident experience. A nonprofit system with communities in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, Asbury is also the parent company of ThriveWell Tech, an IT consulting firm focused on independent living for older adults.
In 2018, at an Asbury site in Maryland, Asbury and ThriveWell conducted a pilot where residents volunteered to use Amazon Alexa virtual assistant devices and wearables such as Apple Watches. The organization’s goal at the time, says ThriveWell Tech President Nick Patel, was to drive improvements in communication and to see if the devices might help with preventive care. In that regard, the effort was highly successful. “What we learned is that seniors are excited about technology,” Patel says. “If you provide them with training and show them what it can do, most really want to use it.”
The biggest takeaway from the initiative, Patel says, was that success depends on having a strong IT infrastructure. Toward that end, his group is restructuring Asbury’s entire technology stack and is working with the organization’s senior leadership team to align their goals with a well-developed technology strategy.
MORE FROM HEALTHTECH: Five technologies expected to impact older adults.
Meanwhile, ThriveWell has moved on to a number of pilot programs involving Asbury and other senior living organizations. In one upcoming pilot, for example, staff in day centers funded through the federal Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly will use a proprietary technology to measure residents’ stability on their feet to determine whether they’re at risk for a fall. Individuals who are identified as at-risk will then use another technology in their homes that both monitors their activity and sends staff an alert when unexpected motion is detected.
Similarly, Patel says, a National Institutes of Health-sponsored initiative will give residents biosensors to track vital signs. The data will be fed into a predictive model that could provide advance warning of serious medical events.
Patel thinks the real potential of technologies like these is in the information they can offer caregivers once they’re integrated with other senior living platforms. “We’re not there yet,” he says, “but imagine if we could combine these things with dining data or with wellness data.”
He can picture a scenario where the staff at an Asbury facility may receive an alert that a resident’s heart rate is elevated. The system would allow a staff member to conduct a cross-check and quickly confirm that the individual is taking an aerobics class. “The alert in that case is very different,” Patel says. “Now, what you’re seeing is one of your customers trying to take his health into his own hands.”
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