Transitioning to a care home can feel isolating to seniors as they struggle to connect and build relationships in a new environment.
At SMART, we believe in #connectionsthatmatter, and that includes connecting seniors with loved ones through interactive technology. It’s innovation for everyone, regardless of your age or skill.
We’re proud to partner with organizations to engage seniors in activities that help connect them with their stories, their families, and their peers — and provide hope where it often feels like there is none.
SMART technology for seniors
In partnership with senior care facilities in Spain, Australia, and Colorado, SMART is using industry-leading interactive displays and our innovative Tool Explorer to boost engagement and cognitive skills for in-home residents.
“We know isolation is a major issue for seniors around the world,” said Sarah Richards, Director of Marketing at SMART Technologies. “One of the most powerful things we saw in surveys at these pilot sites was that respondents reported a 33% reduction in feelings of loneliness while using the technology together.”
With the ability to adjust the height of the board for those standing or sitting, then use a stamp emoji to express their emotions, interactive technology is swinging the door wide open for seniors who otherwise couldn’t communicate or engage with their peers or staff.
Pilot program indicates increased elder care engagement
When seniors connect with interactive technology, especially with partners or in a small group, it can play a significant role in supporting their cognitive skills and well-being.
After bringing tech for seniors into their resident facilities through our pilot programs, surveys indicate positive outcomes for their residents and staff.
- 80% of staff members using the technology with residents indicate that the use of the panels has fostered greater social interaction among residents.
- 80% of staff members express improvements in resident attention, participation and motivation due to increased activities on the boards.
- 75% of staff members indicate that the use of the boards has positively contributed to mobility, physical activity and stimulation of residents to participate more actively in exercises.
- Increased curiosity and attention in residences.
- A positive impact on social interaction and connection with family members through introducing seniors to new technologies.
It’s these impacts that propel us to intentionally and continually innovate our technology to support senior care facilities around the globe so connection and cognitive growth are accessible.
Three strategies to support healthy aging:
Creating accessible and inclusive technology is vital in ensuring that all participants have a voice, even if they have struggled to learn new technologies in the past.
By making technology more accessible for seniors, the opportunities to engage, learn and participate increase.
Here are three ways SMART’s tools and technologies support health aging:
1. Connect with peers and staff through storytelling
With the tap of a screen, seniors can light a candle for a friend’s birthday or jump to a map of their hometown, all with SMART’s interactive displays. Learning is fun again, in bite-sized conversations and interactions that increase the connection with one another and in their own story.
Residents can use emoji stamps on a map to share thoughts on places they have traveled, looking at postcards from the residents home town, or even virtual travel experiences.
SMART’s innovative technology provides the ability to share experiences with peers and staff.
2. Support cognition with games and collaborative activities
Using interactive activities to improve cognition is a primary goal in our partnerships. With the invention of SMART’s Tool Explorer, communicating with peers and staff has become even more accessible. Users can touch physical stamps, cubes, and other tools to the display, and it digitally represents their ideas as a shape, symbol, or other communication artifact.
This provides people who express themselves non-verbally, or people unable to grasp a pen to write, a new path to engaging meaningfully with technology through aided language. Activities such as group trivia, collaborative word puzzles or even large format puzzles on the SMART Board both support cognition and encourage connection and social engagement.
3. Promote movement with physical/therapeutic activities at the board
Physical movement can be a challenge for seniors, but using SMART technologies to promote accessible movements and therapeutic activities at the board makes it possible.
The easy-to-use technology is also designed with simplicity in mind, meaning there will be very few hurdles for residents to jump over as they strengthen their skills. Providing inclusive tools focused on learning and engagement is the perfect way to bring technology to seniors while still giving them the opportunity to grow.
How SMART products impact seniors’ well-being and cognitive function
For SMART, the same technologies that are popular in classrooms around the world have been tailored to the needs of seniors.
In the pilot program, teams are looking to intentionally enhance the quality of life for seniors, helping them maintain their cognitive abilities and overall well-being.
Seniors can feel isolated in a care home setting. Activities on the SMART board are designed to get residents to share their stories and connect with their peers and the care home staff.
How SMART products support well-being and cognitive function:
Our products encourage connection and social engagement and support cognition through activities such as group trivia, collaborative word puzzles, or even large-format puzzles on the SMART Board.
To build strength through movement, SMART offers activities with therapeutic advantages, like the favorite, Bubble Popper. In this activity, residents interact with the board to pop as many bubbles as possible, targeting specific movements throughout.
Next steps for SMART’s accessibility goals
The installation of SMART Boards is a significant step forward in aged care, ensuring that learners of all ages have access to experiences that help them grow to their potential. It allows seniors to access an extensive library of tools and applications catering to various interests and requirements.
From brain-stimulating puzzles and memory-boosting games to virtual travel experiences and interactive art sessions, the SMART Boards offer endless possibilities to enrich the lives of elderly residents.
One of the ways we’re increasing access is through our Tool Explorer technology. This innovative tool empowers seniors to overcome fears of participating in activities with their peers and engaging with new technologies. SMART’s stamps allow seniors to maintain consistent contact with the board, even when they might have muscle tremors. Stamps are easy to use, and designed to function as exactly as you would expect them to, breaking down barriers for seniors using technology.
The stamps can be completely customized to a certain activity or task. Whether interacting with shapes, emojis, numbers or images, these tools are fully customizable to suit any activity.
This is one of the most exciting frontiers of technology, and we hope to bridge the learning and connection gaps by making this tool more widely available.
Stay tuned for updates on how technology is changing the lives of seniors in Port Macquarie and transforming aged care practices across the globe.