Innovative aged care provider Feros Care joined around 80 other professionals and students from around the world to ‘Engage with Age’ as part of the 2014 LeadingAge HackFest held in Nashville this month.
HackFest 2014 challenged teams of 4-6 participants to work together during a 24-hour period to brainstorm, develop, design, implement and market technology-driven tools aimed to help make the world a better place for seniors and their families.
Team Feros showcased its “Seniors Central” concept, a next generation integrated platform that allows seniors to manage their health, safety and socialisation through a customised easy touchscreen portal. It integrates off the shelf peripherals, apps, and emerging technologies and Collects, analyses, and reports on data to create an holistic picture of the senior.
The technology being device agnostic, allowing the capture of data from a range of off the shelf peripherals and emerging devices. The large pools of data can create intelligence around the person that can be used to undertake predictive analysis and to create a quantifiable marker of function.
Jennene Buckley, Feros Care Chief Executive Officer said HackFest is an incredible collaborative experience that brings together seniors, care providers, academics and technology developers to work together in real-time to design and created new tools.
Participants experienced an ageing simulation exercise, simulating arthritis, macular degeneration, loss of smell and hearing, breathing difficulty, decreased sensitivity in touch and diabetic neuropathy.
“Each team developed their tool with the guidance of an older adult as well as a caregiver or an aging-services professional. Tools included software applications, websites, interactive online experiences, or devices.
“HackFest gave us the chance to have our peers and potential clients review and experience our combined smart technologies and service options that we’ve been delivering to seniors and aged care clients for the last five years,” she said. “In addition to this it gave busy people a time to innovate and create. We want to adopt this methodology across our organisation!”
Research shows that technology has the potential to play an important role in:
• Allowing older adults to live independently for as long as possible.
• Supporting family caregivers in the critical work they do.
• Giving health care providers the ability to deliver high-quality care at an affordable cost.
Feros Care has always believed that technology is a key enabler to a modern aged care system and is gaining a reputation worldwide as an aged care provider that invests in technology to deliver services that enrich the lives of seniors.
The 2014 HackFest winner was Team Excite for their GaitMaster app that assesses risk factors related to falls.
Ms Buckley said “We may not have won, but we felt like we hit the jackpot. HackFest expands the possibilities of ageing through bringing together people with a variety of perspectives and getting them excited about the opportunities that technology can create to make a positive and exciting future for seniors.”
Feros Care was very lucky to have on their Team Dr Jenni Basran, Geriatrician and Head Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Sashkatchewan Canada and Sujita Basnet, Biomedical Engineering Student at George Washington University DC.
About Feros Care
Feros Care is a community owned, not for profit organisation offering quality lifestyle support for older Australians since 1990. Feros Care’s mission is to be a strong ambassador and partner in the lives of seniors, with a focus on creating a range of lifestyle options that support independence, social connectedness and healthy ageing. We offer industry leading services in At Home care, Residential care, Telehealthcare, Case Management and Health & Wellness.
www.feroscare.com.au
Jennene Buckley, CEO for Feros Care
