Ryan Herd Joins Tim To Talk with Jen | Caregivers Smart Solutions

Time to Talk with Jen Graziano

(185) Ryan Herd Joins Tim To Talk with Jen | Caregivers Smart Solutions - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAM2v2-CFnU
Transcript:
(00:00) is here to discuss a sensitive subject we all need to talk and think about here now is Jennifer Graziano and time to talk good morning Westchester it's 9 A.M on Monday and that means it's time to talk with me Jen Graziano I'm a licensed funeral director who oversees my family's Funeral Home Cox and Graziano of both America Greenwich and the Zion Memorial Chapel of Westchester every Monday I come to you discussing important topics and sensitive matters that all of us need to pause and reflect upon at some point and for this show I
(00:33) hope to provide a platform to do so if you're joining us on air this morning on 1460 wvox the Whitney Global Media Station we will take your questions comments and calls to 914-636-0110 good morning Ben and everyone in the control room good morning Facebook live viewers thank you for joining us on this beautiful day with Tim judge man behind the camera also from Greenwich local.
(01:01) com so we managed to pull this together Ryan I believe you're on the line Ryan Hurd the founder of caregiver smart Solutions are you there hey Jennifer how are you doing this morning wonderful thank you for being so ready to go um I was speaking a bit on the morning show this morning uh things I want to talk about with you today but you are the founder again of caregiver smart Solutions if you would be so wonderful to tell us all what exactly that is sure so caregiver smart Solutions is a tool to help you monitor your loved one
(01:42) as they age in place and that's because caregiving is you know it chaotic and all we need is a little less stress and more peace of mind so how does the tool work this is an app yes it's a combination of sensors that is basically monitoring your loved one as they live in their home you know they don't have to do anything different it's not a camera because nobody likes cameras but what it is is it's it's monitoring the habits of your loved one and it takes that information and sends
(02:21) it to a Smart uh your smart device which relies on our app that has the information that you want to know did Mom get up is she moving around so happy eating is she okay how is the data being collected is the is the person wearing some type of watch or device that there's a sensory movement that's how is the actual data collection being processed yeah great questions so there are centers it is not a wearable because it's hard to get our loved ones to wear something but what it is is sensors tiny non-invasive sensors that are placed
(02:58) discreetly around the home and what they're doing is they're monitoring that person's habit does that make sense it absolutely does so now let's say I have this for a parent I'd be able to log on view the app and the app would tell me dad got up this morning or the time I mean how specific is the data if it's sensor-based how would we know Dad got up at 8 A.
(03:29) M or dad walked down a flight of steps um without cameras how specific are we getting that's a great question you know up until now the best technology we had was a wearable right it was the iPhone and I can't get off of the 1990s and it was a great credit to their marketing we still talk about it today I mean that's a catchphrase that hasn't left our lexicon in about 50 years but it's still there yeah and it did its job but nowadays there's new technology and that's what we are leveraging we're
(04:04) we're leveraging the latest of smart technology we're leveraging all those things you hear machine learning and AI for the good of humans and by using these sensors and having it go through that we can tell for example mom got up at you know uh 6 45 a.m uh she went into the kitchen she made her coffee uh she opened up the fridge got something to eat she went into the bathroom and then now she's sitting in the living room so it's amazing because it basically gives you the ability to be that fly on
(04:38) the wall to know that Mom's okay so you can go on with your life so let's play devil's advocate here and I want your perspective on this because there's a pros and cons to everything and technology is here AI is here and obviously, there are so many benefits that can come from it but let's talk about the downside let's talk about robotic care or technology care replacing the human care and there are downfalls to that so first of all it could give the adult child this false sense of okay I have you know I have a
(05:19) grasp on what's going on at home with Mom or Dad but the sensors aren't telling a story I mean you can they could be declining in their physical condition they could you know not be keeping up hygiene they could not be you know brushing their hair they could not be having any type of socialization there's so many things that the sensors are not telling us and I think this begs a larger question does the benefit of Technology outweigh you know the price of the loss of human contact that is a very interesting question so
(05:58) to clarify the sensors will actually tell you if that loved one is let's say taking a shower every other day if they're eating enough if they're moving around or if they're moving less over time that's one of the beauties of leveraging the smart technology of today now with that said will it be able to tell if your loved one literally ingested their medication or if they took two or five no Technology's not there yet now, on the other hand, it's the human touch yes one of the issues as
(06:37) we get older you know we all want to be independent it's a fact it's like the first time you got the keys to the car and you left and it you got that taste of Independence now you know 60 years later we might be asking you for those keys back and you're not going to do it I'm not it's going to be very hard so how do we retain that Independence and dignity well one of the issues is as we get older we do need a little more help you know we tend to move a little slower and sometimes we don't
(07:08) want to be a burden on anyone which is why when you call Mom and say how are you doing she always tells you she's fine right but that translates into if Mom goes out to the bank or Mom goes out to the food store you know she's moving a little slower having a little bit harder time and she doesn't want to impede anybody else so what they do is they tend to self-isolate which is right you know we're humans you're right we need to be around other humans now there are Technologies like the zooms or
(07:40) the face times that kind of sort of put us in the same room but not really and yes robots robots are coming someday um there is an interesting use case from a socialization aspect but it's still not a person so there's definitely a void in the future relative to the technology hopefully that made sense absolutely and um before speaking to you this morning I was reading an article of the future of elder care with AI it was an article published in the guardian um a little more than a year ago which is speaking
(08:16) exactly to this point, it takes the case study of a woman with an 81-year-old father he was a veteran and you know when she she geographically was not nearby and when she finally saw him she saw boxes of cereal open in the living room floor um milk poured into everyone the house was in disarray um you know she was the primary caregiver but again couldn't get there as often as she would have liked and she had installed you know emotion sensors with this AI system and she's a big proponent of him and speaking more to
(08:53) the benefits than the pit balls um but again back to the Devil's Advocate this is Big Brother watching at really a very very up close and personal level how do we Rectify that and justify that to the seniors because Aging in places it's part of a national movement I mean there's been a push for this for years people want to age in the comfort of their surroundings aged can take so much from you your circle starts to dwindle your friends pass away your you know your grandchildren start to get older
(09:25) and then they're developing social lives they're not around as much your memory can fade as beautiful as the gift of Aging is it often comes with a heavy price and so now you're in your own home but you have this reasonable expectation of privacy and now there are sensors there so how what are some of the conversations and from your perspective that the adult kids and the parents have when we start to think of a system like this uh those are all great questions and let me do my best to answer
(10:03) so from our standpoint caregiver smart Solutions we're definitely not that big brother platform right we're more like the caring child adult child and family because when I think big Brother the first thing I think of are cameras right you know that cameras are a great technology for securing your home or your business but horrible for our aging loved ones you know nobody wants a camera on them as I said before and then the second worst technology from a big brother standpoint is a listening device
(10:37) you know I don't want to listen to all the time that's not an appropriate thing for this so we need something that's passive that is not big brother-ish yet gives us the ability to fill the gaps right it's all about Clarity of care because just like you said and the article one of that person's pain points is they're caring for their loved one but they just can't be there all the time you know whether it's working whether it's taking care of family whether whatever it is how to do you
(11:11) fill those gaps of care and I want quality so here is that way to leverage smart technology to do that now yes you're right there are going to be some seniors that are going to have some pushback and depending on the age group you know different age groups are more technologically adverse than others I think it comes down to having that simple conversation of mom we love you and we just want to know that you're okay so having that conversation is something that we all whether it's about finances
(11:44) right whether it's about the end of life mom you know um if and when it happens what are your wishes what would you like the family to do for you it's kind of those kinds of conversations but the other thing that we learned which was fascinating is especially an age-restricted community you know seniors what they've told us to excuse me is this is like every single one of those seniors knows or has heard about somebody who fell in their house yeah and wasn't found for a few hours or God forbid a day and that should never
(12:21) happen today that should never happen in our society and here's a way that we've literally got your back they have been so excited because they know that God forbid something happens somebody will be there you know they don't have to be wearing something they don't have to push your butt and they don't have they just live and that's the greatest thing about leveraging today's technology I agree there's two sides of an issue and you're right Ryan it really comes down to conversations and that's always
(12:50) such a focus of the show these are not easy conversations to have but nonetheless they're necessary because you need to under you need to also meet people where they are so you need to approach this conversation where you can absolutely understand the need for a you know an adult child to have valid concerns and then the roles tend to reverse where the child becomes apparent and the parent has the resistance to that they don't want to see the child and you know this is the circle of life and it's human nature and everyone
(13:20) obviously, you know you start at the premise that everyone's well-intentioned and wants the best but nonetheless, you have to sit down and talk about the things that you don't want to discuss in order to find effective and meaningful Solutions so I thank you for that so I want to talk about what's included in the system because again caregiver smart Solutions is in fact a solution to providing a watchful oversight over a loved one um you know to make sure that that they are okay that they are living it
(13:55) optimally and it's Peace of Mind obviously when you can't exactly be physically present so you have a Smart Hub that again this is a technology that involves sensors not cameras so there's no visual or auditory component but sensors play strategically in the home you have movement sensors emergency buttons uh temperature and humidity sensor which I want to talk about as well and uh drawer and door sensors so talk this is what's included explain to us a little bit what this is and obviously at the end, I'm going to
(14:30) direct everybody to your website to further the information absolutely so what this is is again it's that way to fill in the Gap is the way to you know to figure out your day-to-day concerns or if something is amiss over time for us we're using Those sensors like you said so it's a combination of let's say movement sensors in the bedroom in the bathroom the kitchen the living room the dining room so how that person is moving around in their environment It's a combination of door and drawer sensors so think of
(15:08) like the refrigerator how many times has that person opened up the refrigerator or did they not open the fridge today what about the medicines medicine cabinet or drawer are they taking their medication what about the front or side doors did they leave the front door open and now just walk out and nobody knows what's going on and then temperature and humidity that's given us information like okay so outside it's 30 degrees and inside it's 70.
(15:36) great everything is fine but if the inside was 50 that's the problem uh humidity that's what we're looking at over time and it could be used in two places to be used in the bathroom so we want to track that Mom or Dad is taking a shower or bath every couple of days because hygiene it's important or you know I mean you could always add another one and track if that person has been cooking and maybe left the stove on walked out the front door so the sensors can pick up activity and you know that they can pick up if gas has been left on
(16:13) on the stove correct so if somebody is you know has a pot of sauce on and it's just boiling over and you know they they open up the front door and they left okay if you know if it's a couple of minutes maybe they're talking to the to the you know FedEx guy or if it's been some time you know you want to know and that's what's going to happen you're going to get an indication on the app a notification and then you can take the appropriate action so it's kind of like this you know it's
(16:44) it's about Simplicity right it's got to be simple it has to be simple so for us uh it's called The Core kit that we're talking about and when you receive it you literally open it up there's a QR code you're going to scan that you're going to download the app then you're going to plug in that Hub looks like a hockey puck I'm gonna plug that in and then number three you're gonna peel and stick the sensors and then you're going to label them could be Grandma's room
(17:11) living room family whatever you want to call it it's literally that that simple and the whole idea is that it's got to give you clarity it's got to be better care and really at the end of the day what we're trying to do is we want to be problem solvers so from that caregiving situation because I'm a caregiver for my father this is where this came from my father had cancer when he was coming home from his chemo treatment I needed to know if he was taking his medication and there was nothing out there there
(17:41) was nothing that could help me and then I started thinking about did that get up you know is he eating enough as well as taking his medication that's where caregiver smart Solutions was born so this is very important to figure out a way that simple leveraging technology that gives you the information you need because you know to think about it like this, let's say you call Mom you know it's your daily routine you're at work you want to call Mom to see how she's doing and she doesn't answer because we're human what's the first
(18:13) the thing we think about oh my gosh there must be a problem but the reality is maybe his mom's in the bathroom maybe Mom didn't put in her hearing aids maybe Mom's hearing aids aren't charged up but by simply looking at the app you will know she got up she's moving around everything's fine so now you can give her a buzz later well I mean and again I I like to bring up both sides of the issue but I certainly credit you it was incredibly four-sighted thinking and they always say necessity breeds invention so from
(18:45) your own challenges of being an adult caregiver to a parent um suffering from an illness you've really done something quite impressive and you had the opportunity to give a TED talk as well um your website is great um the attorney in me though goes back to the legalities and how this works with you know for example I I think of this similar to you know laws on wiretapping and one side having to have the knowledge that the only one side needs to know you know in certain states that the line is in fact tapped how does
(19:22) it works with um with the legalities of placing these devices in the home does the senior have to consent um if there's a situation where there's a power of attorney on them does simply a power of if the adult child is the power of attorney do they only need to consent what is the requisite consent and the legality that allows you to place the device into their home great question and I think you know there's kind of two parts of that there's the legal side and then there's the human side right
(19:55) yeah absolutely I don't think I would ever try to put this in without letting your loved one know right I mean that's just human yeah that's human that's honest that's real I respect that and I agree with you know we're not here to watch I mean I don't care that Mom is going into the bathroom and what is she doing all I want to know is that she's going in there a couple of times a day and she's opening up the fridge
(20:20) because the amazing thing about humans is we're a closed-loop system whatever goes in must come out so those are the kind of things the indicators based on habits because a habit is the only thing you can't lie your way out of right that's really that's very interesting that's true I I clearly eat too many cookies which is why I run I can tell you all day that I eat right but you know the reality is something different so to answer your question we definitely um want that person to have that
(20:54) the conversation you know we don't want you just running into Mom's house and starting sticking the sensors around with that said the sensors are the size of a quarter and the reason why that's important is that nobody wants to feel like they're spied on so it was important for us to get the smallest possible sensors yet the most robust or the strongest so that's very good the other thing too is it does give you that ability to you know depending on what kind of family you have I mean for my
(21:21) family it might be something like listen you want me calling you 20 times a day or can I just put this in you know so let's say my mother she'd be enthralled she'd be asking me when can I put it in so I don't call her as much you know so there's different conversations that you have but the reality is is listen parent person it could be your grandma it could be your aunt your uncle your parent whoever it is whoever's your loved one it could even be a friend listen I love you I'm concerned about
(21:51) your well-being and I just want to know that you're okay that's it and God forbid that there's a problem I need to know that too so in summary so yes it's basically you know it becomes what you can do and what you should do is inform the person that you're doing it but it sounds like if I go out and buy this today you know the contract kind of quote-unquote the purchase agreement if you look at purchases in terms of contracts it's between me and your company I take that
(22:23) the device I could put it I can go put it in Tim's house if I wanted or I can put it in my dad's I technically don't have to disclose that it and it could be planted there I mean again it's not what I should do not what I would do but technically Tim the man behind the camera here my producer right here sitting here um and no I'm not coming to your house Jim with the sensor so we're all good I don't know if it was Tim I probably would but you know that might be for a different radio show but you're right I
(22:57) I you know listen their technology can be used for good or bad I'm a big proponent of using technology for the positive side for us as humans that's what excites me about technology that can actually help us as humans and here's a way to be able to you know know that God forbid something's wrong I need to know now because it's the compression between the incident and reaction so whether it's getting somebody over whether make that phone call I mean it could be something
(23:29) as simple as think of how many times you've gone to the food store and you've picked up your food you've thrown it in the fridge and I don't know in my house it's chaos so I have three uh young children and uh I could be closing the door might not close all the way in the refrigerator and then a couple of minutes later you get that like high beeping sound yes well the exact same thing could happen to our loved one but as you get older unfortunately you know our hearing starts to go and it's the highs and the
(23:59) lows so they won't be able to hear that and now the fridge is open and the next time they'll maybe realize is when they get up later for coffee or tea and I'll send that fridge has been open for hours or what about the deli meat is that something concerning yeah again there's so many it makes sense it does and and there are so many esoteric discussions that stem from it which I think are important to have because you have to look at both sides but you know it is this is a necessary
(24:32) um listen who knows one day well I might be planting one in my daughter's college dorm I mean she's 11 now I'd like to think the technology will be there and I would have no problem with the privacy concerns um Ryan heard though I really credit you your website which I want to direct all of our listeners and viewers today this is really worth taking a look at folks it's caregiver smart solutions.
(24:59) com and Ryan really outlines how this works you can see the Ted Talk on there also right Ryan yes that is correct um and again this is a necessity-bred invention he is a caregiver and that's where this came from what was your background prior to this it's funny because I've been in a smart home industry in technology for 30 years so you have a text yeah I do have a tech background I actually wrote the book on it called join the smart home Revolution and life was great and then my father got cancer and that's when I realized the best technology uh
(25:32) over here was I've fallen and I can't get it up and it hasn't evolved in so now it's about how do we provide those tools for our loved ones well it is about you know smart solutions for sure caregiversmartsolutions.com My guest today was Ryan Hurd Ryan I thank you and this is Jen Graziano thanking you for taking the time to listen as we took the time to talk follow the show on time to talk with Jen.
(26:01) com and sign up for the podcast have a great day everyone bye