Park Associate’s Connected Health Summit https://www.parksassociates.com held April 14, 2021, featured speakers and panelists with in-depth consumer research knowledge. The goal is to produce not only the healthy home but also to help seniors and caretakers find information on the latest technologies.
Parks Associates Jennifer Kent VP, Research provided insights, and emphasized how the smart home is able to promote health, wellness, and safety. Keshav Jaiswal, Consumer Insights Analyst II, reported that today the adoption of connected health devices in the U.S are up 42%. Adoption of connected health devices have been driven by the pandemic and also lifestyle changes due to much of the population being homebound.
Paul Scialla, CEO Delos https://www.delos.com providing insight at the Leveraging the Smart Home for a Healthy Home panel session, discussed the company’s new DARWIN system can monitor, calibrate, and respond to changing conditions in the home. The connected weight scales and blood pressure cuffs help consumers proactively monitor their health, smart mattresses and sleep monitors improve consumers’ sleep, and smart products such as cameras and voice assistants, include sensors and algorithms to help gain new insights into the health of the environment.
In the Executive Q&A with Karsten Russell-Wood, Executive Director, Portfolio Management at Philips https://www.usa.philips.com moderated by Elizabeth Parks, President Parks Associates, discussed how healthcare delivery has changed due to the pandemic. The goal today is to if possible move hospital care to the home. This requires the development of connected living devices to provide adequate monitoring.
Paul Scialla, CEO Delos, Karsten Russell-Wood, Philips, Greg Lillegard, Chief Operating Officer, A&D Medical, Cassie Morris, Sr. Director of Innovation and Strategy, Sleep Number Corporation, Lisa Reihl, Director, Marketing Strategy Aprilaire, and Rob Schneider, Sr. VP, Commercial Operations, Omron Healthcare took part in the panel discussion that followed.
Panelists suggestions included using software and devices to improve air quality along with smart thermostats for climate control. The ability to deliver virtual care using connected health can include apps to monitor the heart, devices to monitor blood pressure, address how sleep can influence the body and affect health, and develop the tools needed to help people manage respiratory and pain issues.
The Senior and Caretakers: Serving a Massive Population at Home session moderated by Kristen Hanich, Senior Analyst at Parks Associates, provided insight on the key trends in the use of technology in the home.
Gene Wang CEO, People Power https://peoplepowerc.com, described how his company is making telehomecare affordable with a solution called People Power Caregiver. His company is addressing the growing $3.6 billion per year market for Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS). As he said. “The most devastating business mistake is the failure to innovate.”
He reports, People Power is making telehomecare affordable with a homecare solution called People Power Caregiver which incorporates the functionality of PERS and combines it with three other technologies such as wearables that measure vital signs and falls.
People Power’s bot-powered time series machine learning framework enables the company to deploy new AI services at a rate 16 times faster than other companies. AI services are able to address the issues such as predicting and detecting falls, sleep monitoring, and medication adherence. The bot powered AI services that run in the cloud are able to provide greater security and reliability within the home.
Thomas Kamber, PhD, Founder and Director for Older Adults Technology Services (OAT) https://www.oats.org with Elizabeth Parks as Moderator, explained how the Humana Foundation is working with AARP on projects involving seniors dealing with the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).
The panel discussion that followed included Andy Droney, Sr. Director ADT Health & Innovation Programs, Mark Francis, Chief Digital Health Integration Officer, Electronic Caregiver (ECG), Josh Locks, VP of Sales, Essence USA, and Chris Otto, Senior VP, Clear Arch Health.
Panelists talked about offering security options, use of technology in the home especially for to individuals dealing with SDOH issues along with aging, development of intelligent platforms, the demand from caregivers for innovative voice active and radar technology to deal with falls, the high demand for telehealth since seniors can’t always have access to care, and the need for policy changes to deal with technology in today’s independent living market.