Cassia in the News

Augustana Care’s Learning Lab for Eldercare Demonstrates New Technologies

While Augustana Care offers a variety of housing and services options in our community, many Minnesotans want to stay in their homes for as long as possible, cutting health care costs and maintaining safety, health and long-term relationships.

 Augustana Care’s new Learning Lab for Eldercare Technologies will help older adults become more comfortable with technology that can help them stay in their homes as their needs change

While most caregivers and older adults say living at home costs less than assisted living or memory care, they have serious concerns about falls, medication errors and memory issues.

New home health and safety technologies have been developed to assist older generations and caregivers to navigate their home environments safely. However, many older adults may be unaware these technologies exist, or don’t know how to install or use them.

That’s why Augustana Care created the Learning Lab for Eldercare Technologies with guidance from eldercare technology consultant Paul Wessel. The Learning Lab, highlighted recently in Leading Age Magazine, tests and demonstrates new technologies to help people stay in their homes as they grow older.

The new technologies include health tracking hardware and software, heart rate and sleep apnea monitors, safety solutions for appliances, floor paneling that detects footfalls, and video doorbells.

The Learning Lab will offer hands-on demonstrations of home health and safety technologies, so visitors can experience them and learn how to use them.

“We believe this program will provide a real breakthrough for those we serve and position Augustana Care as a leader in our field,” says Augustana Care President and CEO Tim Tucker. “We have talked about having an ‘innovation officer’ but we decided to first use our Learning Lab as an innovation activity that helps our communities and helps us as an organization understand technology challenges, opportunities and our technology leadership needs.”