Once again, McKnight’s will host its annual Fall Online Expo, which is a chance to attend a conference without leaving your desk. Register for the conference in advance, and then log in to hear the talks, visit the vendors, and chat with the reps and attendees. This year’s topics are:
· TECHNOLOGY: Cyber threats and compliance challenges: Managing technology risk in aging services
· STAFFING: New strategies in staffing: Developing a partnership with your local university
· PAYMENT: Are you ready for the changes coming to MDS 3.0?
At Maimonides Medical Center, 24 frail older adults were taught to use laptops so that they could manage their health information from home. The technology facilitated communication between patients and providers and improved the quality of life of participants.
The program was a collaboration between the Department of Geriatrics at Maimonides and the Older Adults Technology Services (OATS), who trained the elders and installed the laptops in their homes. I met with OATS founder Tom Kamber, Ph.D., to follow up on our conversation earlier this year and to hear more about how technology can play a role in reducing costs and improving the quality of care for nursing home residents.
Kamber was enthusiastic about the Maimonides program, noting that the elders, with an average age of 85, were able to use the devices to manage information, communicate with the care team and explore areas of interest.
Fun, he emphasized, is crucial to success.
The desire to connect with the grands on Facebook is a more powerful motivator to learn new skills than is tracking blood sugar levels.
For facilities, particularly those working in healthcare systems focused on providing care at the lowest cost (i.e. in the community or in skilled nursing rather than in the hospital), the ability to remain virtually connected provides a host of benefits. Patients remain within the network, medical issues can be tracked and health crises can be averted before needing expensive hospitalizations. Tailored health information can be offered effortlessly, such as sending out post-surgery information videos at a scheduled time. Patient and family satisfaction increases, as does that of care providers who can quickly answer questions via email rather than return lengthy phone calls at the end of a long workday.
From a mental health standpoint, the program is a winner. Residents and their families are typically anxious about discharge and how to manage once they’re home. A virtual system reduces anxiety because it allows for easy access to medical professionals, offers continuity of care and averts costly, stressful and frequently debilitating hospitalizations.
I was at the nursing station the other day when some unusual cracking noises caused me to look up from my documentation. A very old, petite lady was sitting in her wheelchair popping bubble wrap. She wore th
e same contented expression that comes over virtually everyone popping a sheet of bubble wrap.
This low-tech soother was on my mind during my visit to New York City’s CE Week. CE, in this case, is not Continuing Education but Consumer Electronics.
In March, I wrote about attending Aging2.0, a tech conference geared toward elders. The CE Week NY isn’t specifically aging tech, but the 50+ set was invited by tech50+ and Senior Planet and I went to see what could be appropriated for people much older than 50.
I was thinking of the happy bubble-wrap popping elder when I came across FidgetTech, a table of high-tech “fidgets.” A fidget spinner is a small, flat plastic device with a central core that remains stable while the three-pronged body is spun in circles. Often marketed as a tool to help children maintain their focus, they’ve become a craze like yo-yos or Silly Bandz.
The display offered a wide variety of fidgets with various electronic capabilities (music! USB hubs!), but what stood out to me was the possibility of calming agitated elders with a basic, silent fidget that, unlike bubble wrap, wouldn’t disturb those around them. I liked the fidget that had “arms” filled with liquid and glitter so that when it stopped, the glitter settled in a slow, mesmerizing fashion. I could imagine a “Fidget Hour” mitigating the agitation that frequently occurs late in the day.
Farther down the exhibit hall, the Rapael Smart Glove display demonstrated virtual reality-based rehabilitation using a variety of computerized games and a plastic sensor “glove.”
(Think Wii for hand and arm rehabilitation.) In addition to the high-tech demonstration, they offered low-tech photocopies of a 2016 study published in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation outlining the glove’s utility for post-stroke patients. The device would be a useful and impressive addition to rehabilitation services.
Perhaps, like me, you’ve heard of Aging2.0 but hadn’t had the opportunity to attend one of their events. When I discovered that they were holding a pitch session a subway ride away from my home, I jumped at the chance to be there. I was curious to see if any of the startups were promoting products to benefit elders in long-term care.
Here’s what I learned:
What’s Aging2.0?
According to their website, “Aging2.0 is a global innovation network on a mission to accelerate innovation to improve the lives of older adults around the world.” Moving beyond the development of medical products for seniors, Aging2.0 seeks to facilitate collaborations between senior care providers and entrepreneurs to create products and services that can be integrated into their businesses.
The scene
The event was held at the modern, tech-oriented community space of SeniorPlanet.org in Manhattan. (The tagline for SeniorPlanet.org is “Aging with Attitude.” One of their recent articles is titled, “Is it time for #OscarsSoYoung?”)
The large, windowed, ground floor room on West 25th Street was filled with the animated clamor of innovators munching on crudité and discussing products to better the lives of elders. The youngest attendees appeared to be twenty-somethings and the oldest participant was octogenarian and aging activist Muriel Beach, Chief Elder Officer and a judge for the event.
The format
Each inventor had several minutes to pitch their product and take questions from the four judges, who also included the CEO of 1-800-Wheelchair Joseph Piekarski, HealthTech Angel Investor Sacha Levy, and AARP’s Director of Market Innovation Jeffrey Makowka.
Aging2.0’s host Crispin Baynes kept things moving along swiftly and explained that the winner of the event would receive cash, mentorship and an international spotlight, going on to pitch at Aging2.0’s inaugural Americas Summit in Toronto on June 21, 2017.
The inventions
Nine people pitched their products, which were designed to assist elders with a wide variety of challenges.
Adaptive tandem bicycles allow residents the pleasure of riding a bike and feeling the breeze through their hair. As John Brunow of All Ability Cycles puts it in the video below, an adaptive bicycle event triggers reminiscence, stimulates appetites, and reduces depression. Sounds like a win, win, win to me!
My mother has a knack for taking something awkward and, as she puts it, “turning it into a feature.”
For example, the previous owners of our family home placed the living room couch in front of a protruding radiator so that the sofa was oddly and obviously a foot away from the wall. By contrast, my mother had shelves installed above the radiator so that it became a pleasant focal point for books, photos and the stereo system.
I follow this line of thought with regard to the need for assistive devices such as canes, walkers, and eyeglasses. It’s possible to convert something unappealing yet necessary into an item that bestows confidence, evinces a sense of humor or becomes more useful.
Turning assistive devices into a feature creates a psychological shift for the wearer. It gives residents an element of control over mostly uncontrollable circumstances and allows them to retain their personal style in a situation that tends to strip them of their uniqueness despite our best efforts.
An organization providing the opportunity to purchase or design desirable devices can generate a change in their culture. Seeing residents sporting colorful walkers or personalized wheelchairs rather than standard equipment sends a message of individualized care and a zest for life despite disability.
In the spirit of giving your residents an emotional boost and taking the sting out of the need for assistive devices, your organization might try some of the following ideas (found through my handy search engine):
• Residents can purchase sophisticated walking canes featuring fancy handles or colorful shafts with a wide selection of items under $50. I know many residents who would find that an excellent use of their Personal Needs Allowance (PNA).
• Another company features a colorful range of walking canes for about $40 each. Choices include floral motifs, Irish themes, US military and biker inspired designs.
• With PNA funds being as limited as they are, a decorating event is a great addition to the recreation calendar. Help residents embellish canes or create personalized walker or wheelchair bags to carry their belongings using colorful duct tape, Velcro and other supplies, or sew a handy cup holder.
Among the items now available are Magnaready‘s clothes with magnetic closures rather than difficult-to-manage buttons, and shirts by Care + Wear designed for people with medical ports so that they can stay comfortably dressed and merely unzip the section needed to access the port. Care + Wear also offers PICC line covers that come in a variety of fashionable colors.
Hallelujah! It’s about time! I can’t wait to see what’s next.
I’d read about the Genworth R70i Aging Experience and when I discovered the exhibit was making a brief appearance near me at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, I headed over with my 9-year old assistant to see what it was all about.
The Aging Experience involves a high-tech suit designed to help younger people gain insight into the physical effects associated with aging. When I told residents I was going to age myself via the suit, reactions ranged from an incredulous, “Why in the world would you want to do that?!” to “Great! We can compare notes,” to, “Can they make a suit to make you feel twenty-five?”
My assistant and I arrived 15 minutes before the 11 a.m. demonstration so that I’d be dressed and ready. The Applied Minds staff, who partnered with Genworth on this project, took us into the back of a tech-filled room where they Velcroed various parts of the suit onto me, adding an extra 40 pounds strategically placed to mimic age-related weight gain.
This resulted in the constant thought throughout the half-hour presentation that it would be really nice to sit down.
The helmet included goggles and headphones, so that they could give me various disorders including glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts, age-related hearing loss, tinnitus and aphasia. I was finally able to see what one of my patients referred to when she said, “I have macular,” as if she was intimate enough with the condition to be on a first name basis.
After undergoing vision and hearing loss, I was faced with rheumatoid arthritis and hip problems that made walking on the treadmill a chore. Even without the additional physical challenges, trudging on the virtual beach was so difficult that I estimated a two-minute hike would be enough before it lost its pleasure – and I love walking on the beach.
The audience was able to observe my heart rate and perceptions on the screens behind me and then to try on goggles and headsets and experience the ailments themselves.
Once again, McKnight’s will host its annual online expo, which is a chance to attend a conference without leaving your desk. Register for the conference in advance, and then log in to hear the talks, visit the vendors, and chat with the reps and attendees.
This year’s topics are:
PAYMENT: MDS 3.0 Update: Get ready for more changes March 29, 10 am EST / 7 am PST
WOUND CARE: Deep-tissue injuries — Recognition, Strategies and Risk March 29, 11:30 am EST / 8:30 am PST
TECHNOLOGY: Trends and best practices March 29, 1 pm EST / 10 am PST
QUALITY: Engaging staff in reducing readmissions to improve quality March 30, 11:30 am EST / 8:30 am PST
CAPITAL: The state of capital availability March 30, 1 pm EST / 10 am PST
Poor sleep, reversed sleep/wake cycles, depression and falls are common problems in older adults. In addition, elders with dementia frequently experience late afternoon agitation, or “sundowning.” Because our residents live in a communal environment, a single individual’s agitation or late-night roaming can create a unit-wide problem for staff and other residents.
Research suggests there may be a solution that involves no medication or side effects. The answer could be the use of light.
According to Mariana Figueiro, Ph.D., professor and Light and Health program director at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the results of the research on light are “very robust.” As she states in the January 2016 American Psychological Association Monitor, “I have no question that if you deliver the right light in Alzheimer’s patients, you improve their behavior; you will improve agitation; they will sleep better.”
Reduced ability to process light
Our bodies receive light via three different types of photoreceptors, the Monitor article explains, and it stimulates the brain in various ways to regulate sleep. As we age, the ability to process this light diminishes. In combination with age-related changes in the circadian rhythms that regulate sleep/wake cycles, reduced production of melatonin which aids slumber, and lifestyle adjustments such as decreased physical activity and exposure to outside light, this contributes to the sleep difficulties of older adults.
Some studies indicate that sleep disturbances have been associated with a buildup of beta-amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers speculate that sleep helps to flush toxins such as beta-amyloid out of the brain. By improving the sleep quality of our residents, we therefore may be aiding them in many ways.
Light table
Theorizing that residents with dementia spend a great deal of time sitting around a table, Figueiro created a “light table” using an edge-lit LED television for the surface. This allows staff and residents to interact normally while receiving the appropriate amount of bluish white illumination. Her studies show a significant improvement in the quality of sleep of participants and a significant reduction in depression and agitation. Both of the latter held up fours weeks after the light source was removed.
McKnight’s Fall Online Expo FREE
