A few weeks ago at the Home and Community Health Association conference, I met some of the team behind CleverCare, a new service that connects an Android smart watch to a web interface and a 24-hour call centre.
CleverCare is the brain-child of Maria Johnston. As the website explains, “developing the Clevercare system was driven from a personal need for Maria to make a positive difference in the everyday life or her parents. She then found that her family’s problems were experienced by many and now, through Clevercare making lives better with independence and peace of mind can be achieved for many.”
Designed for people with dementia, the Android watch runs a simple app and contains a GPS geolocator. The device is tracked via Google Maps in an online dashboard. Boundaries can be set to alert family, friends or support workers if someone wanders beyond a safe distance. Reminders can be pushed to the watch via the dashboard.
The watch will also alert a call center at the push of a button. The watch can receive phone calls from the call centre (in fact any phone), to establish the person’s need. If unanswered the call centre will contact a nominated person or send an ambulance to the GPS location.
As a user of a Bupa alarm, which is wired to your home, the CleverCare watch’s potential to be a safety net to a wider range of people was instantly obvious to me. I was soon talking to Maria and Shane, CleverCare’s sales rep, about the possibilities for younger people with unique function living independently, but anyone who may be vulnerable to risk and need assistance could utilize the device.
I notice that since the conference, CleverCare has widened its target audience to include children, people working alone, cyclists and more. At the end of the conference Maria and Shane offered me a watch to use. Already I am noticing the peace of mind my Bupa alarm gives me at home but, of course, with the watch, I have it wherever I am.
The dashboard is currently oriented to be ‘driven’ by the support/contact person, not the watch wearer, because of the focus on dementia support. A reorientation could put the watch wearer in the driving seat and, if more contact people were able to be added, a chain of contact, similar to my Bupa alarm, would make this technology truly revolutionary in terms of providing people a sense of safety and confidence.
The watch CleverCare uses at the moment is not the most attractive accessory but, again, it is designed for simplicity of use by older people and those with unique cognitive function. I’m not sure what I’ll do when I get my Apple Watch!
Which brings me to what I see could be the ultimate opportunity – the development of a standalone CleverCare app. Whether on a smart watch, phone, tablet or even desktop device, an app could bring this safety technology to anyone, anywhere.
If you see the benefit of CleverCare for yourself or someone else, do contact them directly or let me know so I can pass the interest on to Maria and her team. There is a cost but I understand it can be funded by the likes of ACC or Individualised Funding. And of course, the bigger CleverCare’s market, I’m sure the more cost effective it can become.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwQcPc580bQ
