CONNECTED

When Steve was diagnosed with the early stages of dementia in the fall of 2019, he and his wife Amy decided to move into a local senior living facility. Steve and Amy were both in their early 80s, and many daily activities had already become fairly difficult for them, even prior to Steve’s diagnosis. Many of their close friends had already transitioned to senior living, so this made it an easy decision for them.

Upon meeting with the manager at the Assisted Living Facility, Amy, Steve and their daughter Louisa quickly chose the type of apartment and meal plans they each wanted. Steve would have some memory care support and would transition as needed for additional care. They also opted to be enrolled in the CareMeda wellness monitoring platform. The CareMeda platform would enable daily remote wellness monitoring and virtual communication for Amy and Steve. Louisa pushed for this. She had always been heavily involved in her parents’ care, and she wanted to remain involved even after this move. Doctor visits had already become very difficult for them, and Louisa knew this would become ever more difficult once they moved into the facility. Amy and Steve were set up with the CareMeda customized tablet and monitoring devices. Louisa was granted access to the family application, where she could see her parents’ daily clinical information and communicate with them. In addition, the caregivers at the facility had real-time access to all of the clinical data through the CareMeda caregiver dashboard.

Little did they know that two months after moving in, their world would be changed dramatically by COVID. Louisa’s visits to the facility came to an immediate stop. The facility was overwhelmed with Covid illnesses, staffing issues and unanswered phone calls. Throughout the coming months, Louisa relied solely on the CareMeda family application to know how her mother and father were doing. Amy and Steve were able to use the tablet each day to check vital signs and complete daily wellness surveys. Louisa could check on her parents, see their vital signs each day, and even have their granddaughter Serena do video chats with them. The CareMeda platform truly became a lifeline for them.

As doctor visits all went virtual, Amy and Steve were able to use the tablet and platform they had become so familiar with to complete telehealth visits with their doctors. Even Dr. Michaels, the house physician for the facility, was not able to visit in person, but he could still complete virtual visits with Amy and Steve. Steve could even do some of his memory care activities via the video chat feature in the CareMeda platform. And most importantly, through the CareMeda family application, Louisa could participate every step of the way and remain the healthcare advocate she had always been for her mom and dad.

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