Care Resources PACE
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Care Resources, a community-based program for people 55 years and older, is expanding its use of innovative telehealth and telemonitoring technology to promote healthy and independent living among participants. The organization has formed a strategic partnership with digital health company care.coach.
Care Resources Embraces Technology to Promote Healthy,
Independent Living in Older Adults
Community-Based Program Expanding Use of Technology-Based Tools for
Recreational Therapy, Health Monitoring and More
Grand Rapids, Michigan, Feb. 2023 – Care Resources, a community-based program for people
55 years and older, is expanding its use of innovative telehealth and telemonitoring technology
to promote healthy and independent living among participants.
The organization has formed a strategic partnership with digital health company care.coach to
provide at least 50% of Care Resources participants with its services this year. The technology is
part of a growing portfolio of options Care Resources has adopted to help participants selfmanage and improve their overall health and wellbeing.
Care Resources participants can talk with a care.coach Avatar™, who takes the form of a dog or
cat, on a tablet in their homes. The easy-to-use technology provides remote patient monitoring
for Care Resources while providing compassionate social support for the participant as a digital
companion, among other capabilities.
As a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, also known as PACE®, Care Resources
provides affordable holistic medical care and home health services to eligible older adults.
Interactive telehealth and telemonitoring devices are used to complement the wrap-around
supportive services Care Resources provides to enable older adults in the program to stay safely
in their own homes and out of nursing facilities.
In addition to care.coach, Care Resources uses:
• Health Recovery Systems for remote patient monitoring and telehealth services. The
technology provides blood pressure, pulse rates and other important vitals to Care
Resource’s nursing team.
• It’s Never 2 Late, or iN2L™, a senior engagement technology with a touch screen
interface and more than 4,000 interactive games and activities. iN2L helps enhance
programming in social activity, meaningful interactions and therapeutic experiences to
help participants have fun while reaching therapeutic goals. It also provides interactive
educational programs to help prepare participants for different procedures.
• WalkWise®, a wheel-based monitoring system for participants who utilize a walker or
wheelchair. The WalkWise system will monitor participant's steps to calculate daily
averages, provide "tip over" alerts for fall detection and provide data graphs to detect
differences in participants’ baseline activity levels, which can help identify health
concerns early on.
“Care Resources is proud to offer a wide range of telehealth technology solutions to enhance
support for our participants,” Chief Operating Officer Tom Muszynski said. “Technology has the
ability to continually assess needs even when one of our team can’t be present, which helps us
be more proactive in promoting independence. The holistic health benefits we’ve seen are
phenomenal.”
Care Resources first began deploying the care.coach platform in 2020 during the peak of the
COVID-19 pandemic to support the psychosocial needs of participants whose access to inperson care was disrupted and were negatively affected by social isolation. Research published
by Stanford University has shown the care.coach Avatar significantly reduces loneliness among
older adults. The American Medical Informatics Association reported an average reduction in
depression by 25%.
These social benefits have continued to be valuable beyond the days of quarantine as many
participants do not have loved ones to rely on nor a strong social network. To establish a
personal connection with their Avatar from the start, participants name the dog or cat and
begin building a relationship by talking to it. Participants can ask their Avatars to play audio
books or music, share the weather forecast, pull up games, take phone calls from select
contacts and more.
“Feedback from our participants has been highly positive,” Technology Coordinator Morgan
Ballmann said. “We see the impact every day through the personal touches care.coach
provides.
“We’ve had Care Resources participants cry when they receive a care.coach Avatar device and
say, ‘Now, I don’t have to be so lonely!’ We also see smiles and giggles over the cute, rhyming
greetings their Avatars give them. They truly form a trusting relationship with their Avatar, who
they’ll often refer to as their friend or buddy.”
As part of its strategic relationship with care.coach, Care Resources has continued exploring and
expanding the ways the technology can be used for enhanced support. Its findings will help
other PACE organizations across the country better utilize care.coach services.
“As our strategic partner, Care Resources is playing an important role in refining care.coach
services to become the ultimate operational platform for PACE,” care.coach VP of RevOps
Kendra Seavey said. “Care Resources is expertly customizing the care.coach Avatar™ and Video
Visits™ services to meet the needs of its participants and care team with exceptional results.
We look forward to continued collaboration to see the technology utilized at its fullest
potential.”
Beyond socialization opportunities, the organization has used the devices to provide
medication reminders, fall alerts and more. Fall prevention tasks, such as guided physical
exercises, executed through the care.coach platform have resulted in a 40% reduction in
participant falls. Care Resources also observed benefits to medication adherence and
reductions in inpatient stays and emergency department visits.
“We saw such great potential in this device,” Recreational Therapy Manager Garth Falkins said.
“We’re still discovering new ways of using it to support our participants’ physical, mental and
social needs. It’s a valuable tool in our toolbox to promote healthy and independent living.”
The devices are also considered another set of eyes and ears on the participant by conducting
scheduled check-ins for any noise or movement that could be cause for concern. A live
representative is on standby to interact with participants and escalate issues to the Care
Resources team or other medical professionals, if needed.
For more information about Care Resources, visit CareResources.org.
About Care Resources
Care Resources is a community-based program for people 55 years or older that promotes
healthy, independent living and helps prevent nursing home placement. The Care Resources
team of healthcare professionals works with older adults and their families to develop a
comprehensive care plan — helping participants to make medical decisions every step of the
way. For more information, visit CareResources.org.