3 Accelerators to Help Senior Living Reduce Falls, Enhance Wellness
Practical steps to move your fall management from reactive to proactive and enhance resident wellbeing
In a perfect world, seniors would never fall. In the real world, communities can take proactive steps to identify risks and prevent falls, but falls may still occur. When that happens, how do your staff members handle it? How do you know what led to the fall? How do you know how long the resident lay there before being assisted? How do you determine the root cause of the incident – and identify possible injuries and treatment for the person who fell? For most communities, the answers come down to educated guesswork.
But what if you could know exactly what happened before, during and after a fall? Even better, what if you could be alerted that one of your residents is heading for a fall? Perhaps the resident has been getting up and moving around in the middle of the night due to restless sleep, a new medication or a urinary tract infection. What if those micro-changes could be passively tracked around the clock alerting you when the risk level has changed – allowing you to take proactive measures to prevent an incident?
That’s the unique value of Securitas Healthcare’s Foresite solution. When I share its capabilities with senior living leaders, they immediately recognize the potential benefits. Many also have questions related to the cost of the solution, management of all the data it generates, and potential privacy concerns among residents and their families. While they may view those as concerns, I see them as accelerators that enable residents to experience fewer falls, more independence and better wellness. Here's how:
Focus on cost savings. Securitas Healthcare has put the Foresite solution within reach for virtually any senior living community. With equipment purchased separately from the monthly subscription, you can outfit a new unit or building with the capability but only pay for the service when it’s in use. It’s also easy to pass along the subscription cost as part of your monthly care fee. Ultimately, though, the affordability of the solution is less impressive than how much it can help you save: Avoid penalties and lost reimbursements. Prevent additional hospitalization which increases their length of stay. This not only protects your reputation among current and prospective residents and their families, but gives you a market advantage with new residents seeking out your community.
Data is rich and robust; alerts are highly targeted. Administrators often ask me, “Am I going to be inundated with data?” It’s an understandable question given how much information they already manage every day. The good news is that Foresite’s fall and health alerts are very specific and actionable. You get the “news you can use” – with the data already interpreted so your next steps are clear – and no deluge of false alarms to wade through.
Think independence, not intrusion. Sometimes people are concerned that this solution might feel “intrusive” to residents or their families. In reality, it’s remarkably privacy preserving. Unlike video services, it relies not on cameras but on depth sensors. So while there’s no way to see someone changing clothes or bathing, the depth sensors capture enough information to continually monitor using artificial intelligence and advance algorithms to alert on changes in behaviors that could signal an emerging health issue. It’s like having a smart “guardian angel” watching over residents 24/7. That, in turn, empowers them to enjoy greater dignity and more independence – without compromising on safety.
This groundbreaking approach to preventing falls and enhancing wellness isn’t in the future – Foresite is here today. What impact would these three accelerators have on the health, safety and quality of life in your senior living community?
