Wearables can play a signficant role in the care of seniors, whether they are aging in place or living in a managed care facility. Our country pays a high price for this care, and technology can help make this support more effective while lowering overall costs. According to the Caregiver in Action Network, family caregivers provide “free” service for older adults worth an estimated $375 billion a year. More 29% of the U.S. population provide care for a chronically ill, disabled, or aged family member or friend during any given year, spending on average 20 hours per week. Reemo Health, a health tech company focused on helping seniors and proactive healthcare, reports someone who leaves the workforce to care for a parent loses an average of $304,000 in lifetime wages.
Reemo Health partnered with Teradata analysis firm to “reimagine” the senior living experience through a combination of wearables and smart home technology. Reemo and Teradata are launching a pilot program with independent living and assisted living residents at a Minnesota continuing care retirement community managed by Mission Health. The project will use Samsung Gear S2 smartwatches and living unit sensors to capture information such as sleep patterns, exercise, and heart rate. The system will also be able to gather data on situations that could impact the subjects’ health, such as falls and urinary tract infections.
Reemo estimates that 1.1 million lives can be saved each year through better prevention and treatment of chronic disease. 80 percent of older adults have at least one chronic disease and 68 percent have at least two. Reemo is focused on helping healthcare organizations shift from reactive to proactive care for chronic conditions. Chronic disease management possibilities exist with continuous monitoring for Parkinson’s, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and mental health and depression.
Reemo and Teradata predict that by 2025, 80 percent of care business models will be driven by platform-based healthcare analytics and intelligence solutions. Reemo’s focus on the healthcare provider side is on promoting heightened patient engagement and prevention opportunities via continuous remote patient monitoring and analytics from rapidly growing health indices.
