Five technologies from LeadingAge 2015 Annual Meeting in Boston

An age-friendly event in young Boston. Last week, LeadingAge returned to Boston after an absence of 23 years, now that the city has a convention center that can hold the 8500 attendees. Perhaps more remarkable, is the desire of the city to become age and dementia-friendly, as opined by the Mayor, Marty Walsh, who received a citation. For convention attendees, that needs more work. The pedestrian walk time duration near the convention center was enough time to (walk quickly) and only reach the road's median. No surprise – as the town is for the young, and this new area was likely designed by them --  Boston's median resident age is 31.7. The event exhibition hall was the expected mix of food service providers, furnishings, supplies, health-related products for the senior living industry.  There were quite a few sizable technology companies known in the CCRC/Senior Housing market, including CDW, Stanley Healthcare, Panasonic, LG CNS, Hamilton CapTel, IN2L, SimpleC, Care Innovations. Here are just five new technologies drawn from the event, with the material from the company websites:

• EarlySense.  "EarlySense introduce a Fall Prevention Comprehensive Solution which has been reported by clinicians to substantially reduce patient falls. The System is designed to allow "the fastest way" to the patient. This enables the nurse to be at the bedside before the patient has exited the bed in order to insure the patient’s safety. The system allows personalization to the needs of the patient and automatic adaptation to the unique needs at night." Learn more at EarlySense.

• Hiphope Technologies. "Hip-Hope inventive fall impact attenuation system deploys, within a fraction of a second, uniquely designed airbags that reduce the collision impact by an order of magnitude. Automatic remote fall alert transmission, motion and pre-fall data logging, self-operated distress button, lightweight and user-friendly, built-in pockets for small-size personal items."  Learn more at Hiphope.

• LifeAssist Technologies Circura. "LAT's Community of Care SaaS solution that promotes collaboration, communication, and care management through our connected technology. This family and caregiver engagement platform connects caregivers to the senior via Reminder Rosie or any other connected device, and also to one another for collaborative scheduling, notes, messaging and calendaring. Circura also provides additional Enterprise tools, such as task tracking, reporting and status update logs that allows professionals to improve outcomes." Learn more at ReminderRosie.

• Medocity. "Supporting senior living, home health and home care agencies to incorporate a virtual coordinated care platform to support their clients’ healthcare needs and achieve success with new value and outcomes-based payment and care delivery models. Supporting senior living providers with senior-centric technology to incorporate expanded business models and service offerings to support the health and wellness of the senior population who wish to remain at home." Learn more at Medocity.

• Piper Proximity Beacon. Deployed in McDonald's, this proximity sensing beacon has yet to be deployed in a senior housing setting, but can be useful when placed in the pocket of a resident. The demonstrated variant at LeadingAge: as a person neared the base unit, the system recognized the individual and launched a video (which could be tailored to that individual). "Piper is a proximity-based messaging platform that uses Bluetooth LE beacon technology to deliver local, timely, and contextual information to app users. Beacon owners can setup their Piper beacons by snapping a QR code on the device and choosing from a variety of message options including Apple Passbook, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, email, SMS, photos, and notifications." Learn more at https://www.pipernetworks.com/.