Remote Care Services Are Coming to More Seniors [video]

Vimient plans to bring affordable remote monitoring care to seniors all across America. Currently available in Texas, Vimient Connect is aimed at older adults who wish to live at home and is slated for a national rollout soon. The service, which costs $300 per month, comes with three smart devices: a scale, a watch, and a sleep monitor. Together, these connected devices offer real-time health monitoring and connection to Vimient’s support staff 24/7. Vimient CEO Robert Rae says, “Seniors want to live at home and caregivers want to enable that experience…. We know the solution here is not to ask seniors to use technology but instead to bring non-invasive technology into the seniors’ home.”

It’s a solution that meets a significant problem; according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 56% of Americans turning 65 today will develop disabilities serious enough to require long-term services and support. And while remote monitoring can’t stand in for needed assistance with daily tasks such as bathing and eating, there’s strong evidence that home health monitoring makes a positive impact on overall care. Findings published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research show that remote monitoring can improve health outcomes in cases of diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and heart failure. As well as improve safety for seniors and detect important cognitive changes.

So what do seniors get for $300 a month? Vimient’s smart scale offers insights into diet and overall wellness. A smartwatch features fall detection and SOS services, while a sleep monitor tracks the quality of slumber. Data from the three separate devices is shared through the Vimient Hub app, which offers insights and trends, and has features that include streaming sleep patterns and a sleep score. The app also helps in monitoring weight, body mass index (BMI), and hydration, offering real time location tracking so that loved ones can keep an eye on the older adults in their lives. And the app’s data can be shared with healthcare professionals.

The benefits of remote monitoring extend beyond the seniors who receive the care. A technology review done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) posits that, “The U.S. faces a shortage of professional elder-care providers that only stands to worsen as demand increases, and in the meantime, ‘informal’ elder care already extracts an annual economic toll of $522 billion per year in opportunity cost — mainly from women reducing their work hours, or leaving jobs altogether, to take care of aging parents.” Vimient’s Robert Rae adds, “Caregivers need this help now and we believe we are best positioned to deliver it.”

Even at $10 a day, this service might be out of reach for many seniors living on limited incomes and savings, but for a wide range of elderly aging-in-place, this could be an important part of the caregiving and support puzzle.

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