Imagine being able to know what your senior mother or father is doing and if they are safe even when you are hundreds or thousands of miles away. Did they get out of bed today? Did they leave the stove on? Is their smoke detector going off? Have they eaten? SmartCare Consultants, a second business started by the owners of The SOHO Shop, has developed a series of unobtrusive sensors to be placed in a senior’s room within an elderly community or residential home that will give you and family peace of mind.
The concept came after founder Bryan Jefferson’s own father became ill and Bryan lived 2,000 miles away. His father slowly became depressed and lethargic. Bryan had the idea to remotely monitor his father’s daily activities by placing monitors throughout his home. He and his family were shocked by what they found. “By knowing what activity was happening in his home, we quickly realized how much TV was being watched, how long he was sleeping and that he really had timed his life around us being home,” Bryan says. “Now armed with that data, we could begin putting things in place to break these patterns and pull him out of his depression and get him active again.”
Jefferson and his partners Scott Mosher and Mike Dolan began developing technology that would meet the community’s needs to provide an improved level of care for the senior population. They hope their SmartCare technology will reduce guilt and provide peace of mind for families of seniors. “Families find a comfort in knowing something is being done to help improve care and to help protect their loved ones,” says Bryan.
The sensors track the daily living activities of seniors and allow family members and caregivers access to the real-time data. Family members can log in, and through a customizable interface they are able to check on their loved one anytime from anywhere. Alerts also can be set up to notify the family if an anomaly occurs.
A passive tracking system also can be included. The system allows family members and caregivers the ability to know exactly where their senior is at all times. The technology includes their velocity in order to immediately know if they fall, get stuck on the toilet or leave the building - all things a family wants to know in regards to their senior. “We need to care for our sick and loved ones the way we want to be cared for,” he says. “These advances today will directly impact our quality of life in the years to come.”
