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Summary
In this episode of the CareLab podcast, hosts Emilia Bourland and Brandy Archie welcome Dan, the founder and CEO of Silvertree, a company providing tech solutions for older adults aimed at enhancing safety and human connection. The discussion covers the evolution of senior care technology, highlighting the limitations of traditional products like Life Alert, and introduces Silvertree's innovative approach. The conversation also touches on personal podcast preferences and the challenges of balancing work, family, and self-care.
Key Takeaways
- Technology in Senior Care: Traditional devices like Life Alert have been around for decades but lack modern design and user-friendliness. Silvertree aims to address these issues.
- User Experience: The conversation highlights the importance of designing products that not only serve a functional purpose but also bring joy and pride to the users.
- Wearable Tech Evolution: Wearable technology has advanced significantly, with products like Apple Watch and Fitbit combining aesthetics with functionality. However, this evolution hasn’t been fully realized in senior care technology until now.
- Podcasting for Self-Care: The hosts discuss their favorite podcasts and how they incorporate them into their routines, emphasizing the role of podcasts in relaxation and personal time.
- Balancing Act: The discussion reflects on the challenges of managing professional responsibilities while making time for personal interests and family.
Transcript
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Hi everyone, welcome to the Care Lab.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
It's Care Lab Day, I'm so excited!
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Yay, Care Lab Day is the best. We have a pretty cool guest with us here today, right Brandy?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
We do, we have Dan here and I just gotta tell y 'all that Dan's really awesome because he's the founder and CEO of Silvertree, a simple tech solution designed for older adults that's built for safety and deeply rooted in human connection. Silvertree is on a mission to inspire confidence for the world's aging population and because of that, I love it and it also can be found at Sammy, which is how we met.
And so I'm so glad to have Dan on podcast. So welcome
Dan
Thank you, Brandy. Thanks, Amelia. I'm happy to be here.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Okay, so before we get started on the stuff we're supposed to talk about, I have a question for you both.
Dan
Go for it.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Are you okay? Just making sure you're just making sure. Okay, so I think this should be actually a really, really easy one. So what is your other than Care Lab? Obviously, what is your favorite podcast to listen to that has nothing to do with work? Like just something that you listen to purely for fun and entertainment.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I'm never ready. Just go ahead.
Dan
I got mine Brandy. If you want me to go first. Yeah. It's an easy one for me. It's a podcast called Pardon My Take from Barstool Sports. It is the intersection of like sports talk radio and general comedy and tomfoolery. So they take a really lighthearted approach to covering all sports. And it's a good escape from the daily, you know, grind of work.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Dan, you gotta go first. You gotta go first, guess go first.
Dan
of life, of everything else, it's a good escape. So I love it.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
So you're a sports guy then? Like what's your favorite? Do you have a favorite sport or do you just love them all equally?
Dan
Ooh, I don't love them all equally. That would be unfair to say. There are some I love less. I grew up playing soccer, so I'm a big soccer fan. I love football. I love the Olympics, which is timely right now because I've been staying up every night watching Olympic highlights. So I really enjoy them all except for one, and I'm almost afraid to admit it.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yes.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Say it.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
What is it?
Dan
It's baseball. I don't like baseball.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
You don't like watching? You don't like watching it or you don't like playing it? Or both?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I was gonna say the same thing.
Dan
I like anything about it. It's too slow. It takes too long. There are too many games. Yeah, they have. They have. What they need to do is, you know, 162 games is way too many. It's hard to get excited about any one game. So make it... That's right. So make it a little faster. Cut down the number of games. Maybe introduce some new rules. I don't know. Like, spice it up a little.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
mean, they've been working on the slowness of it.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Mm -hmm.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
That is a lot of games.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
because not one game really matters that much.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I totally agree with that. mean, high take. even think that the NBA plays too many games. I don't like to watch NBA until near summertime either because it's like, what does it matter in December?
Dan
I agree.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Do you think that that's something that like the NFL actually really does right? Is there so few games in the actual like NFL football season that every single one of them matters and maybe that's why it's easy to get excited about? I hadn't really thought about that before, that's, mean, if you got over 160 games and like, I mean, that's a lot to keep up with, you know, but there's not that many football games. And so it's easier to
to kind of get into it.
Dan
Totally agree. And plus, I don't think you could really ask NFL players to play more than the 16 or 17 games that they're already playing, because that already feels like a lot.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I mean, there was such a big like to do about the NFL adding another game to the regular season too. So just one regular season game. So yeah.
Dan
Yep. So yeah, sports, the great escape.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yeah, I agree with that. Okay, I've been listening to podcasts since way before podcasts were cool. I have a lot of podcasts and I really hate answering what is your favorite question. I'm just really horrible at this. So I'm gonna give two because I'm oppositionally opposed to giving one. And I'm gonna say Radiolab is one of my very favorites. They always dive into
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
or Brandy.
Dan
You
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Mmm.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
That's a great one.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
interesting topics or topics I didn't even think were interesting, but they are because they do it. And then Black History for Real is a new podcast that I just started listening to. They have a whole bunch of episodes though now and it is really good. So it's like, it's exactly what it says. Black History for Real. It talks about all the stuff that you should have learned, but we have not learned and gets into the deep context of it.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Have you ever, did you ever hear the radio lab episode on butts?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I don't think so.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Okay, well, it's really a bad.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Hahaha!
Dan
But I know exactly what Brandy and I are gonna do after this podcast.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
us scroll through and find it on
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
It's actually, no, it's one of my favorite episodes of Radiolab. They're talking about like, what is the purpose of the bottom, basically? Like what is the physiological, like anatomical role of having a butt? And they go down, of course, because it's Radiolab. So they go down these very interesting paths and they end up at like the man versus horse race. And it's very exciting.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
They go to so many rabbit holes.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I did hear this one. Now I gotta go back and listen to again. I totally did hear this one.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
You know that episode, yes. Yeah, and I'm not normally like a listen to something twice kind of person, but I have actually listened to that podcast more than once because it's so it's so entertaining. yeah, totally agree. It's a radio lab is great. I'm same. I can't actually pick a favorite of anything. So I would say like right now on heavy rotation for me, I love this American life.
Dan
Ha
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
I love Fresh Air. You can tell like, okay, do I listen to a little NPR? Maybe a little, maybe a little. I love the fact that I, it's true. And then I also, I love Smart List because it is just like pure dumb entertainment. It's just like, I mean, it's completely my list. Do you?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yes, maybe a little. Listen, most of my shows come from NPR too.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I am glad you brought SmartListen to my life. I listen to it sometimes. Yeah.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
It's so fun, like, and it is the definition of tomfoolery, actually. It's meaningless. It's just listening to people have a good time. you know, there's something that brings me joy about that. So those would be my picks.
Dan
So can I ask a follow -up question? Because you're both very well versed in the podcast world. Where and when do you listen to podcasts? Like what is the medium, the place, the time that you consume?
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
always.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
That's a good question, Brandy.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yes, okay. So the majority of my career, I had worked in home health. And so was driving around all day. So this is why I got into podcasts in the first place. So I listened to them while I drive. I don't drive nearly as much anymore, but I still listen when I drive. But also there's like chaos in my house all the time with three little kids. And so I listen at home and it's actually very...
peaceful because I put my headphones on and I don't hear all the ridiculousness and they only come to me with the most ridiculousness and they actually touch me and I'm like, okay now, what did you want to say to me? So I listen while do work or like work in the garden and stuff like that.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Yeah, I listen. So a lot of my kids are of the both my kids are of the age where they have a lot of activities. So if I'm not working, I'm pretty much transporting them to an activity or I'm sitting waiting for an activity to be finished. So and a lot of times if I'm just sitting there waiting and I have work to do, I'll do some work during that time. But if I am lucky enough to not have anything to do or I'm just like, I can't.
anymore, then I'll usually listen to a podcast. mean, speaking of soccer, have one of my sons plays club soccer. So, know, we're at two hours of practice, two days a week, and that's a lot of time to fill. So I listen to podcasts then. That's kind of a nice time to like relax and be entertained because there's actually only so much practice you can really pay attention to. Let's be honest.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
You
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
And then I listen to them a lot when I'm cleaning the house or folding laundry or just kind of doing mindless tasks where I would also like to be entertained at the same time. And I listen to them sometime while I run. Sometimes. It depends on the podcast and my mood. But if I'm out for a run and I want to hear a story instead of listening to music, I'll turn on a podcast. And that can be fun.
Dan
Yeah.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Dan
That was the one I was going to add, which is yes to all of these. And then I listen to podcasts when I exercise. If I'm not in the mood to listen to music, it's a nice way to sort of zone out a little bit.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Totally.
All right, should we, maybe we should, okay, this is our episode on podcasts that we recommend and now we're just gonna do a totally separate one. We'll sprinkle it, yeah. We should probably talk about the real topic here today, which is the use of technology in caregiving and senior care. So would you take a second to like, just inform us what is silver tree? What do you do? How does it help? All that kind of thing.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yeah.
Dan
Yeah.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
sprinkle in a little bit.
Dan
Sure, so I always kick off these conversations by referencing a commercial that we're all probably very familiar with from our childhood. The woman, and Brandy's already smiling, so I know she knows what I'm about to say. It's the woman lying on the bathroom floor who's screaming help.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yeah.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
can't get up. I knew it.
Dan
Nailed it, nailed it. So that product, Life Alert, has been around for about almost 50 years now. So it was developed in the seventies and over the last 40 or 50 years, there have been dozens of products like it. When I say like it, I quite literally mean identical to it, which for those who are unfamiliar, these are these lanyards or necklaces that you wear that
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm
Dan
kind of look like a garage door opener and they have a big button, usually red, and two -way voice, so a microphone and a speaker, and if you push the button, it connects you with a local emergency service operator. They ask you if you need help and they dispatch help to your location. So historically, it was designed for older adults who lived alone. Over the last 40 or 50 years, you've started to see these devices pop up all over the place.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
you
Dan
still primarily with older adults who live alone who need some form of extra safety and security.
We've all known about this product for a long time. About five or so years ago, I was thinking about what company do I want to start next? And we can talk about why that for me is interesting and why I put myself through that pain every few years. I'd looked at this category and I said, there's something missing here. There are these products that have been around for forever. But if you take kind of a step back and you look at
what they are intended to do and who they are intended to help, they're kind of missing the mark on this really fundamental axis, which is the person who's wearing it is almost never happy to be wearing it. They're never proud to be wearing it.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
And I can't imagine why, because your description of it made it sound very sexy.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
You
Dan
Yeah, it's no comment on the design, right? But, you know, like, just think about all the wearable tech that we as consumers have adopted in the last 20 years. mean, Apple and Garmin and Fitbit and Whoop and Samsung. I mean, you name it, these products go on and on and on, and they are both beautiful and functional. And if you look at the original wearable, I don't know why no one ever asked the question, well,
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
I mean.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Dan
why didn't anyone think to maybe design it a little bit nicer, make it something that somebody would choose to wear as opposed to hide in the, you know, bedroom drawer where it never gets used. And so that was the thesis for us. We said, if we could bring together some of what we all know to be true about consumer technology and wearable tech, which is they are aesthetic and they are functional and they serve this dual purpose of they solve a problem and they make me feel good. Why can't we apply that same philosophy?
to safety technology. And that was really the genesis for Silvertree. And we spent three years doing a ton of design thinking, sort of co -creation research with older adults, with family members, to really make sure we understood what the need was. Because the need from the 70s has changed, clearly. And we wanted to be able to meet people where they were in life and design products and services that not just
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm
Dan
solved the problem but that people were excited about.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yeah, that's like so important. There's two things. One, I cannot tell you how many people I have seen that I'm like, do you have a way to get help if you fall? They're like, yeah, I have a fall alert. And I'm like, where is it? And they're like, it's in the drawer, it's in my walker, it's under the bed, it's in my, I'm like, well, those places are safe and you are not. And there's like all these reasons why people don't want to wear them, but they basically boil down to.
It's uncomfortable. don't like it. I don't like what it makes me feel like or look like to everybody else. And so I'm not going to wear it. I mean, even something as simple as like a raised toilet seat, which there are lots of nice looking ones now, but so many people have one bathroom and they don't want to put it on their bathroom toilet because they might have a guest come over, the grandkids come over and they're willing to sacrifice their own safety because of the aesthetics of the typical normal bulky raised toilet seat. And so like you have
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Mm
Dan
Mm -hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I don't see a world in which we just ignore that and say, have to have this, so wear it. Because people are still grownups and they might buy it and they're still not using it.
Dan
Yeah.
Dan
100 % branding.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, basically, it's this problem of we can have products that serve their function, but they only serve their function if people are willing to use them. And so how do that's actually the greater barrier always to get over. It's not designing a product that will do a task. It's how do we get people to integrate that thing into their lives? So what were the solutions that you came up for that? So, you know, what are you doing differently?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Right.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
at Silver Tree to help make that happen for folks.
Dan
Yeah, so, you know, we came at the problem with a very open mind, which is honestly really hard to do because you're constantly inundated with solutions and solutions in search of problems. And we said, we are going to focus on the problem first and not bring any preconceived notion of what the solution ought to be. And the problem that we identified more than anything, it actually went even beyond, you know, falls. was this lack of confidence for older adults who wanted to remain independent.
Maybe they hadn't actually suffered any incident. Maybe they were recently told that they're all of a sudden at greater risk because of some change in their diet and their health, whatever the case is. So we said, okay, if it's about confidence, then we know that design matters because, Brennan, to your point, and Amelia, to your point, if someone's not gonna use it, it doesn't matter how pretty it is. And the more we spoke to older adults and the more we spoke to family caregivers and then even doctors and clinicians and gerontologists,
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Dan
became pretty clear that one of the big things that was most critical was the technology had to show up. It had to be there when the person needed it. And that sort of put us into two very distinct worlds. One was a world of like connected home technology where anytime anything happens in the home, the technology is available to support. And this could have been cameras, sensors, I mean, you name it. The other was something on the body, right? Something that somebody would wear. And
As we started exploring those two very distinct solution sets, it became pretty clear that, you know, the stuff in the home, the connected home products were good to a point, but they often led to this feeling of invasion of privacy of I'm no longer living independently if big brother's always watching, right? There was no way to sort of elegantly get to that place where someone would say, yes, put all this stuff in my home because it'll make me feel better.
because the reality is it actually made a lot of people feel worse. So we focused on the wearable. And when we started thinking about wearable, we didn't say it had to be a necklace, we didn't say it had to be on the wrist, on the shoe, on the belt. We left it open and we tried to understand for the range of consumers that we were hoping to solve this problem for, what was the best place for it? And the biggest insight that we found actually was the neck pendant.
is an entirely gendered solution, meaning most men have no history, no familiarity, no comfort in wearing something around their neck. And so the idea of an older male who has never worn jewelry around his neck wearing a alert pendant was a non -starter for most. And if you look at the stats, you see actually that
adoption in this category of the sort of age range of 70 plus, it's almost three to one women to men. And that was sort of a big unlock for us. And we said, okay, so if we were going to focus on a non -gendered solution, what is the real estate on the body or on the person that that, you know, where that could exist? And the wrist just became a really natural place because men and women wear watches. the sort of idea of having something on your wrist.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm.
Dan
is not going to attract unwanted attention for most people. And so the more we got into it with users and with prototypes, the more it made sense that the way we would win in this category is to design something super simple, super elegant that lived on the wrist. And most importantly, it didn't have to come off every day or every night. We needed to be able to show up. And so the design, as I'm kind of holding up here on the camera, which is not going to make for good podcasting, but I'll do it anyway.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
But if you want to see it, you can go watch this episode on YouTube, dear listener. You can watch this episode on YouTube, and you can actually see the wearable there too. So not to interrupt you, but.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Thank
Dan
That's right.
Dan
Amelia what's what's the channel there we go ask Sammy and what's the YouTube channel?
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Go to askstandby .com
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Just search for CareLab podcast.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Thank you, Caleb.
Dan
Excellent. All right. So, yeah, so we focused on, you know, simple, discreet, easy to use, and trying to make ourselves an appealing solution for an older adult, regardless of age, regardless of gender, regardless of life stage.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yeah, that process, first of all, like customer discovery makes all the sense. had no idea about the necklace thing. It makes total sense. everybody, that's pretty much what everybody says. Like when you, when they already have something, I'm even like, okay, well, did you know that you could get that thing as a watch? So let's switch it to that. Like even from their current provider, if they already have one and like, no, I didn't know I could do that. And that's literally the way we, the way I've tried to get people to adopt it. So.
One thing I would like to know is how do you feel like technology has changed the way we think about caregiving? Because you've been talking about this as an independent solution, which I totally agree it is, but it also has like connectivity options that allow for family caregivers to understand a little bit. So can you dig into that a little?
Dan
Totally. So, you know, this I think came to the forefront, especially during COVID when we were all home and we all, you know, had older relatives that we wanted to stay connected with. And this adoption of technology to stay connected, which again, our generation, we sort of have taken it for granted, right? We grew up with this, but our parents and our grandparents, for many of them, this was sort of learned behavior, learned tech. So I almost struggled to conceive of a future world in which
Technology is not the cornerstone of family caregiving because more and more families are not living sort of in proximity to one another. More and more were separated by distance, by time zones, by schedules. so leveraging technology, leveraging the use of connectivity, the affordability of it today, which didn't exist 20 years ago, is what's going to help connect all of these sort of disparate nodes around the country, around the world.
which I think is so important. And so for us, the device itself is one piece of the solution set. As part of the solution, it's not just you push the button or we detect the fall and we call 911 for you. We're actually notifying family caregivers. So part of the Silvertree experience is as much about the wearable as it is about the Silvertree app. So when you buy a Silvertree device, you get access to, and you can invite anyone you want to be part of what we call your care team.
And the whole intent there is we want to provide real -time visibility for everyone. So that if there is an emergency, if there is a need, everyone on the team is notified. Everyone has an opportunity to intervene before it gets escalated to 911. So this has sort of a dual benefit on the one hand, it keeps families connected and informed. It makes families that are, you not living in the same place in the same town, state, city, whatever. It allows them to feel like they're part of the caregiving process.
for their loved one. And it helps reduce a pretty massive strain on the first responder network. Because rather than immediately escalate to 911 showing up at the door, we allow for families to intervene. We allow for neighbors to intervene. And what we've found is that's actually a really powerful way to strengthen the caregiving community is if everyone feels like they have a little bit of agency in this and that they have a role to play. And it's not just
Dan
the ambulance showing up or the doctor at the ER. It really does kind of fall on all of us to be part of that caregiving network for our family.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
I like that point as you bring it up, which is that, you know, I mean, I think we all, we all understand that the nature of caregiving is changing over time, partly because we are, we're not all always in the same place anymore, where there might be only, so often there's like one child or one family member who is there in the location where the person who needs care, right? And so traditionally, historically, most of
those responsibilities have fallen on the shoulders of that single person. But the way that technology allows the kind of the nature of caregiving to change, it really does allow that kind of workload to be spread out and shared and those responsibilities to be spread out and shared a little bit more. Obviously, even if you can't be there physically doing something, you can still play a role. I mean, how do you think that
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
you
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
changes the way that we think about caregiving and maybe some of the fear and stigma surrounding becoming a caregiver, if that makes sense.
Dan
Yeah, you know, look, think caregiving is such a personal experience. think every family's situation is different. Every caregiver situation is different. And I think the most important thing, and you touched on Amelia, is how do we reduce the stigma, lower the barriers to entry so that everyone feels like they can be a participant in this? It shouldn't have to fall on any one person. You know, hopefully the family member, the loved one who's in need of caregiving,
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Dan
has a network that is both distributed as well as local. So caregivers don't have to be family members. They could be neighbors. They could be friends. The way I sort of think about it is when you go away to college for the first time, you're living in a dorm. Chances are your family's not nearby, but you develop and you build this network of people around you, friends, colleagues, teachers, older students, people in the community who are there to support you.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Thank you.
Dan
That shouldn't change at a certain arbitrary age of whatever 60, 65, 70. The idea of community caregiving has been around for, you know, since the beginning of time. And, you know, part of what technology allows us to do is to really enable that to be a little bit easier, less friction, more inclusive. And if we can kind of all adopt that mindset, it could fundamentally change the way we as
society and community think about caring for not just older adults, but anyone younger younger people people who are sick anyone who needs more support Technology is going to enable us to to be there for them
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Thank
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I think it's such a strong point because two of the things that I older adults saying around this kind of topic of follower buttons and such is one, I don't want the ambulance coming. I just fell, I'm not hurt, I need some help. And two, I don't want to bother my kids. They're so busy all the time and I don't want to have to call them all the time. And so by allowing the care network or the care partners to be whoever they want them to be, including like
their next door neighbor who's fully capable of helping them get up off the floor. I think it improves adoption because then they know that they don't have to necessarily rely on the sirens coming down the street and then all their neighbors asking about what happened. like, that's like a real thing that people are concerned about and literally will not push the button that they actually have because they don't want to have that level of scrutiny on what's going on because they don't feel like the problem is that important, I guess. So I think that's a
Dan
Mm -hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
really important for the adoption part of it too.
Dan
Totally.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
question for both of you. I'm really interested to hear both of your opinions on this.
Because I think this is kind of it's a recurring theme in general in in this conversation, but also in like the caregiving care partnering world, which is this idea that once someone requires some level of care, they lose a lot of agency, right. And I think we think a lot about what the experience of the care partner who is providing care so caregiver, like we think a lot about their experience, but
a lot of times the experience of the person who is receiving care is not necessarily thought about in the same way. And so, you know, for me, and I'm sure Brandy, like as occupational therapists, you know, the goal of empowering people to be more independent, to participate more, to have more agency, like that's central to what we do. But it is, that idea is
often something that just like traditionally has really been put on the back burner when someone starts to receive care. It becomes more about, know, anyway, I could go down that path forever, but how do you think, I think you guys get my point. You're picking up what I'm putting down. How do you think technology has changed the way that we can help create agency and maintain dignity for people who are
who are the care receivers in this care partnership.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yeah, I'll go first and say that I think it gives people more options and lets them know that they can be more independent. For example, I was working with a client just the other day and we opened the Be My Eyes app, which is free to use and somebody comes on and they can show, you can just use the camera on your phone to show whatever it is and they can tell you what you're looking at for somebody with low vision. And so like that's super empowering because one,
You now don't have to wait for your daughter to come over to read your mail. You can do it right then. It's not a high level of technology because it's your cell phone and two clicks and you're there. And then because you feel like you can do that, then you feel like you can do something else, right? That same person didn't want to have a smartphone. The first thing we got them into technology with was an Amazon Alexa because we use it by voice and there's like no touching or no interface. And so I feel like technology gives us the opportunity to
say this doesn't have to be hard. I know you're not a native to technology, but here is like an entry point, entry drug to get you started to know that you can do this. If you can do this, then you can do this next thing. Dan, how do you feel about that?
Dan
Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, I never thought of technology as a gateway drug, right? But I think that's a fun way to think about it. And I agree, right? It's at the end.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Yeah.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
That's gonna be the tagline for this episode, Technology Gateway Drug to Independence.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Gateway drug.
Dan
Think it's good. I think we could like we could run with this one. This one's awesome But yeah, look, it's about confidence and it's about options, right? it's about enabling people to feel like they have a choice and It doesn't have to just be Things that are sort of binary right like I can't walk up the stairs. Therefore. I must have an electric lift or You know, I I can't walk without a walker therefore I need a electric walk like
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Dan
whatever it is, it doesn't have to be that massive of a change, right? It could be something as simple like, wow, it's a hundred degrees today and I don't feel like going outside to go get groceries. Can I just get groceries delivered? Right? It's little things like this that it's about convenience, right? It's about allowing people, regardless of their stage in life, regardless of what they need to be able to get access to these things in a convenient and accessible and affordable way.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Dan
And I think, Brandon, to your point, gaining confidence along the way opens up more doors. And I love the idea of starting with the home smart speaker where it is really simple. It's like talking to a smart robot. Well, if you can do that, what else can you do? What else do you feel empowered to go and tackle next? And as long as we can keep that going and keep the sort of learning agenda moving forward, you know,
There is no limit to the way technology can improve caregiving and improve independence, both for the person receiving care as much as for the person providing it.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
And I love that point of it being non -binary, right? So yeah, it's a hundred degrees outside, so I'm going to order my groceries today. That does not mean that I must order my groceries every time. I still like to go pick out my produce and be there in person. Maybe my driving is not as good as it used to be and my kids are worried about my kids say, me the keys. And actually we just need to stay in closer radius and drive during the daytime, right? So that still provides some options to be independent in doing this.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Yeah.
Dan
Mm -hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
without as much of the risk. And so I think as caregivers too, especially because caregivers really care about the safety of their person, that it's always like this or this. Like you used to do this, now you cannot. And therefore we're gonna do this. And instead using technology and adaptive equipment and all these other things that are available to us these days to massage that a little bit, to say like, okay, it's not safe to climb up and down the stairs.
with all your groceries every time. But you could probably go up and down stairs twice a day and that's not a big deal. Can we create a little mini kitchen on this first floor so that most of the stuff that you come in and out of the house with is down here and you can go upstairs to sleep or whatever. There's all these ways to think about it. And I think technology just gives us the ability to do that if we're open our minds to it, which is like a good point to how you even came to the problem with an open mind and let the solutions come based on the research.
Dan
Mm -hmm.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
I would also take this opportunity to make a little plug to work with an occupational therapist. If you are a person who is having more trouble doing something and you feel like you're starting to need help, or if you, on the other hand, are a person who is starting to have to help someone that you love with different tasks or you're concerned about their safety.
It isn't necessarily a black or white thing that they can or they can't do things. So many times we have lots and lots of options. And guess what? There are actually people out there whose job it is to know all those options and figure out with you and your care partner, whoever that is, what the best option is for your current situation and even get this, help you.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
of that out.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
problem solve into the future so that you know what more options will be because it actually is a lot to digest and think about and know that's why we have a whole profession for it. We're called occupational therapists. So definitely use an occupational therapist as a resource. Ask for an order for your doctor. Google local occupational therapists online. Check out resources at Ask Sammy. You know there are lots and lots of ways that you can find us out there. So
Don't be shy about working. You would never, like, if you needed to write a will, you get a lawyer, right? Well, if you need independent solutions, you call an occupational therapist. It's just like that.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Want to live a good life and call an occupational therapist?
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
That's right. That's right.
Dan
You want to talk podcasts? You call an occupational therapist.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Hahaha!
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
There's no end to this.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
There's no end in sight, yeah.
Dan
That's But Amelia, I think you're bringing up an awesome point, which is something we think about all the time, which is, you know, aging is obviously not this sort of all of sudden, one day you wake up and you're old, you wake up and you're not independent, right? It is a, it is a continuum. It is a journey. And yet most people, most caregivers in particular, wait for a trigger, wait for some event. And it's usually a bad one that pushes them into the world of thinking.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Dan
crap, really need XYZ right now. And how do you, how do both of you as occupational therapists see that? And how do you think about encouraging people to start thinking about options before they're in this sort of desperate need of, mom had a fall, I'm now overwhelmed, I don't even know where to begin.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
I think that's kind of like the point of the podcast actually. And just like, need to, people need to understand what, that there are options, first of all, and that they don't have to all happen at one time. And that there's no one person in charge in the healthcare system to say, okay, now you are old and you need to do X, Y, Z and here are all the solutions in order to do that. And now you can discharge on your way. It's, it's yeah, here's a new change and.
And now you're having these struggles and good luck is kind of how it goes. And so the more we can change the conversation around aging to talk about like talk about it as a continuum, it's something that's part of our conversations just in the same way we talk about raising kids and how their needs change over time. That's just like normal and natural. And we're not waiting for like, their teeth came in. Now we're going to start learning how to brush your teeth. Like you teach them how to brush their teeth way before that, right? Like, cause they're going to need to do it because they're going to get teeth, right?
And so it needs to be part of our everyday conversations, I feel like.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Yeah, I think that the other side of that is, is, and this is so difficult to do, because I think it's just human nature, honestly, to be more reactive than it is to be proactive. But we really do have to, I think each one of us really start thinking about our own agency and our own responsibility to take action early in small increments.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
versus really being passive in our own lives and waiting for something to happen. And that's really, really easy to say. And I think in action, it's a lot harder to do. But again, I think that's part of the point of this podcast is to help change conversations with people so that we are saying, let's not just wait. Let's not be passive in our own lives. Let's be...
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
active actors. That was not good, but you know what I'm saying. Let's take on this responsibility in our own lives to make healthy proactive choices so that we're not feeling like victims of our situations, but rather instead we are actually like the heroes and the leaders of our own situations, whatever may come. And I think that's powerful one, because we can prevent a lot of harm when we act.
Dan
You
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
early and often in these kind small incremental ways. And I think the other part of it is that when people are active in their own lives, being proactive about things, it gives them the confidence that they can deal with what is coming. And that, like the importance of that, I don't think can be overstated because if and when something does happen,
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
It is so important to have the confidence to advocate for yourself, to ask the right questions, to continue doing what needs to be done instead of, again, letting yourself become like sort of a passive observer of what is happening to you around you in your own life. so I think that that's, like said, I know that's a lot easier to say than it is to do.
But the fact is it's just something that really has to happen if we want to see better outcomes and if we want to see, quote unquote, more successful aging scenarios where people are actually living the kinds of quality of life that they want to live and not finding themselves in situations that feel untenable.
Dan
Totally agree. look, I think, Brandon, to your point, that is what this podcast is for, right? I use this analogy a lot. I feel like we are at a point today in talking about aging similar to how we were maybe 10 years ago when we were talking about mental health. know, 15, 20 years ago, you didn't talk about mental health. It was taboo, was stigma. wasn't something that was shared. Now, we're all talking about it. We're all acknowledging that mental health is physical health.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Mm.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mmm.
Dan
Right? You need to be talking to a therapist sort of as much as you're going to the doctor. Right? Like we all need it and there's nothing wrong with that. And if we can achieve that with the sort of aging journey and talking about it with dignity and maybe even with a little bit of levity, know, aging is not easy, but that isn't to say it always has to be so sort of harsh and dark and scary. It's part of life.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Mm -hmm.
Dan
And the more we can bring that into the conversation, hopefully, the more people will pick their eyes up and say, that's a good point. Maybe I should be thinking about this now versus 10 years from now when I'm already kind of overwhelmed with everything that's changing or happening.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Totally. And I feel like that's like such a good place to put an explanation point and end our conversation on. And I just also need to draw like the connection that this might be the first episode where the guests ask us more questions than we ask of the guests. And so I really appreciate you being on. It was really fun having this conversation.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Mm -hmm.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Yeah, super fun.
Dan
Likewise, this was great. Happy to come back anytime. We could talk about podcasts. We could talk about other technology we're seeing. And I promise I'll ask less questions next time.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
No, no, we love it. It's great. It's great. Thank you so much for being here. Dear listener and or viewer, if you enjoyed this episode, please make sure that you are leaving us a review, sharing it with others, liking and subscribing so that you can get updates for when new episodes drop, which is by the way, every Friday. And we will see you here next time on CareLab.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
No, it was great.
Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP
Bye.
Emilia Bourland, OTR, ECHM, CFPS
Bye!
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