Providing care for an aging loved one can be stressful, and one source of that stress can be the seemingly endless check-ins by a caregiver when a senior simply wants to maintain independence. GreatCall, a provider of mobile PERS solutions, is seeking to alleviate some of this stress through its Link app—now with the Check-in feature. GreatCall believes in "active aging," according to David Inns, CEO. "We provide technology and services to help older consumers stay active and connected longer," he says. The Link app is just one service that allows seniors to age independently. Many family caregivers find confidence in the app, which allows for location monitoring, medication monitoring and access to GreatCall's 5Star emergency agents. Independence is important to seniors, so GreatCall sat down with actual families and went through scenarios that could occur in a senior's home to help balance issues of privacy and autonomy. "The location and movement feature can be disabled by the older consumer," Inns says. "Some people are OK with being tracked by their children, but some aren't. Still, we can notify the caregiver when mom has left home for the doctor and when she returns." There is also an option to add favorite addresses to the senior's personal Link profile so the caregiver is alerted when a family member is at a particular location on or off the usual schedule. "But if mom is at her secret boyfriend's," Inns jokes, "we can hide that for her." GreatCall also covers the caregiver. Inns says when the app was conceived, the goal was to present a useful analysis of data to the caregiver. Artificial intelligence tells the caregiver a story each week of how their loved one is doing. GreatCall found this narrative form of data presentation a better method than charts and graphs for most consumers.
