Empowering Caregivers: Using Industry 4.0 Technology to Safeguard the Most Vulnerable Seniors from Falls in Nursing Homes, Assisted Living, and Memory Care Facilities

Falls cut quality of life and cost the average nursing home and assisted living facility hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, despite being largely preventable. Traditional exercise solutions often fail due to the complex care needs of frail individuals who are most at risk. Fortunately, a new era of technologies are making their way to the senior living and skilled nursing markets to improve care for our most vulnerable individuals.

In this symposium, you will learn about several of the most promising technologies that are now just becoming available, including a robotic exercise device for those living with very low mobility who require technological interventions to physical inactivity in order to maintain and improve their lower extremity strength and physical function. We will demonstrate how to effectively use these new technologies in a fall prevention program to improve quality of life and reduce cost of care for all residents, but our emphasis will be on restoring strength and function in frequent fallers. We will also discuss accommodations for those living with dementia and explore future Industry 4.0 technologies for the field of geriatrics.