Transcript
CAITLIN MCKENNEY: OK, welcome. Thank you all for joining us today for the May Tech Accelerator webinar. Our presentation topic this month is Remote Supports. This session is being recorded, and the video will include picture-in-picture ASL translation, as well as a full transcript.
You can access that video on our website at disabilities.temple.edu. And I have put that link in the chat as well. That website is also where you can register for future webinars.
TechOWL has a wonderful series of 18 topics running from July of 2024 through December of 2025. Each session will be held twice on the third Thursday of the month, offered at two times-- 12:00 noon and 4:00 PM. Both sessions have the same content, so you can attend whichever is most convenient for your schedule.
This series is part of the Tech Accelerator program. This is an initiative funded by the Office of Developmental Programs and the Office of Long-Term Living here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And this is made possible through funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator project includes five major focus areas-- training and resources to build capacity for stakeholders, a readiness evaluation to develop tools for successful adoption of remote supports and assistive tech, a statewide assessment to plan and benchmark Technology First Systems Change, a provider survey to assess technology awareness and resources among providers, and finally, two technology summits, which we enjoyed as live events hosted in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh this past March. So you can learn more about all of these fantastic projects at our website, disabilities.temple.edu, using the link in the chat. That information will also be sent to you in a follow-up email, along with the PowerPoint and other materials from today's session.
For those of you who are joining us for the first time, TechOWL, which stands for Technology for Our Whole Lives, is the federally designated Assistive Technology Act program serving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. So every US state and territory has one of these programs, and they share some commonalities, such as having a device lending library, DME utilization programs, and offering training and education opportunities. So if you live or if someone who you love or serve lives outside of Pennsylvania, then you'll want to look up their local AT Act program in order to fully take advantage of those services.
By way of introduction for myself, my name is Caitlin, and I am a RESNA-certified assistive technology professional. So this is my sixth year working with TechOWL. And my job here is to help seniors and people with disabilities to find the tools and technology they need to live safer, or easier, or more independent lives.
And today, we're going to be doing that by talking about remote supports. Objectives for the end of our time together today-- my hope is that you will be able to describe three functions supported by remote technology, compare professional monitoring services to technology that's monitored by a family member, and to name two people that should be involved in the decision-making process when implementing remote supports.
You'll notice that I'm focused on understanding the functions and the underlying considerations for technology selection. So today's session is not meant to exhaustively list all of the individual products that are out there. I will provide lots of examples, but those are for illustration purposes. And I'm not endorsing any specific brand, company, or product. All right. With that disclaimer, let's get started.
Today's topic is understanding remote supports. So we do live in a truly delightful time for the uptake of assistive technology. There are lots of exciting opportunities and tech-first initiatives happening around the country. And this also means that there might be some new words and phrases to understand.
I'm seeing the adoption of words like "supportive technology," or "enabling technology," and "inclusive technology." So these terms are not official. They don't have a universally agreed-upon definition. But they help describe tools in a way that might feel more approachable or more inclusive for some people.
So what is remote supports? How is that distinct from any of these other categories and phrases that we're hearing? Well, the defining feature of remote supports is that it involves communication with another live person. So there's a support team or caregiver that's going to either be monitoring internal or environmental conditions, responding to changes in your routine, or intervening with remote coaching.
On this slide, I have a Venn diagram. To the left are items that can be accessed remotely and are used by a support person-- so fall alerts, GPS trackers, motion detectors, biometric sensors. And to the right are items that cannot be accessed remotely and are used only by the individual. That would be magnifying glass, a wheelchair, maybe a printed visual schedule, adapted kitchen tools. In the center of the Venn diagram, though, we have things like a medication dispenser, environmental controls, smart appliances, and task tracker apps.
So we're starting to see that the idea of remote supports technologies being distinct from assistive technology is a superficial separation. The hardware is not what defines it. The service is.
If I, for example, have a medication dispenser that sorts my pills for me, maybe has a timer that goes off in the morning when it's time to take my medication and gives me those reminders, then that's a technology that's being used just by myself to support my own independence. But if that same technology sends an alert to a caregiver to let them know that I haven't gotten my meds today so that they can check in, now that's part of a remote supports system.
Same thing with environmental controls-- maybe I have smart-home technology that can help me monitor video cameras to see who's at the door, to unlock the door to let in caregivers. Maybe I have something that's helping me control my entertainment system, my lights, my thermostat. If I'm the one who's controlling all of that and it's just for my own independence, then that's just an assistive technology.
But if it's part of a greater remote support plan, if there's an outside caregiver who's able to access those technologies and help me monitor who's an appropriate visitor to be in my home, or help me monitor whether my thermostat is set at a good, comfortable level for living, then that becomes part of a remote supports system. So it really depends on the services.
Remote supports is an action. So it's a method of service delivery, and it requires a human to be available. Remote supports are just one optional way of delivering residential services. But the bottom line is that you can have assistive technology without remote supports, but you cannot have remote supports without assistive technology.
I know we have some people joining us today from other states. So you'll want to look up the waivers in your state. So if you are a participant or a potential participant in a Medicaid waiver, you'll want to see what language your state uses to define assistive technology and any limitations that may be included.
So assistive technology under Pennsylvania's ODP waivers is defined as a piece of equipment, or product system, whether bought commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to "increase, maintain, or improve a participant's functioning or to increase their ability to exercise choice and control." I really love that last addition.
Exercising choice and control is a great way to describe a concept that otherwise might be simply named as independence, because we are all interdependent upon one another in lots of different ways. But what we're looking for is autonomy, for us to have choice over our environment and over who is helping us and how we are receiving that help.
So the ODP waivers cover devices as well as services for assistive technology. This includes evaluation to determine what the right tech for you is, installation of the tech, any repairs that might be needed, or extended warranties. It can also pay for training for the participant and their family members or their staff on how to use and care for the assistive technology that they're getting.
Things to note that are not considered assistive technology under the waivers would be anything that is durable medical equipment under your regular medical insurance plan. So we're supposed to get things like AAC communication devices or things like wheelchairs through our normal insurance processes first. But then the waiver could step in to pay for any remaining cost or uncovered items. Assistive technology under the waiver also excludes recreational equipment-- so anything that's purely for fun, for leisure.
There is also a lifetime cap of $10,000 on assistive technology. But there is a variance process available. So individuals who need additional support can ask for an exception to that. So that's what assistive technology is under the ODP waivers.
They also are going to define who can recommend it-- so who is able to evaluate and suggest assistive technology. There are six specific professionals named. Assistive technology. Evaluations may be done by a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a speech-language pathologist, an assistive technology professional, or an enabling technology integration specialist.
Most of those professionals are probably familiar to you and share a lot of commonalities in terms of they've completed a course of study, they've passed an exam, they're bound by a code of ethics. They answer to a nationally or internationally recognized professional organization. So those are people who are required to complete ongoing professional development to keep their certification. And there are accrediting bodies for that, too.
You might be familiar with ASHA, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association-- they certify speech therapists-- or RESNA, the Rehabilitation and Engineering Society of North America. They certify ATPs. The one that might be less familiar to you is that last example. The enabling technology integration specialist is a newer designation. So that credential from SHIFT is a 15-hour online certificate focused on enabling technologies from a home and community-based provider and a service coordinator type of viewpoint.
Right now, there are only seven states in the US who have organizations accredited by SHIFT, although probably another two dozen have providers with SHIFT education. So it may or may not be applicable if you live in a state outside of Pennsylvania. Here in Pennsylvania, though, our home and community-based service funding does recognize that credential. And you can learn more about it at their website, techfirstshift.com.
But no matter what state you live in, you're definitely going to be able to find an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, or an ATP, or even other assistive technology professionals not named by the Pennsylvania waiver. One that comes to mind is a certified low-vision specialist. They could be very relevant to help with environmental modifications or assistive devices for the blind-- so lots of different people who you might be able to consult with for recommendations in your selection process.
It's also worth noting that devices less than $750 don't require a formal recommendation. So you don't need a professional to recommend those if your service coordinator and your support team agree that it's something which would be beneficial for you.
OK, so that's what assistive technology is. And now we are going to look at the definition for remote supports. So under the ODP waiver, remote supports involve the use of two-way, real-time communication that allows someone from off site to monitor and respond to a participant's health and safety needs. A key point is that these supports have to enhance independence and reduce the need for direct support.
So who can recommend it? ODP uses the term, "supportive technology professional," and specifies that this is someone with either an assistive technology professional certification or an enabling technology integration specialist certification. So it's a much shorter list than the list of people who are eligible to recommend assistive technology.
There are also some additional obligations. So this professional has to evaluate what the participant needs and how remote supports are going to ensure their health, their welfare, their independence. They're also going to need to determine the training needs-- so how to implement that technology and backup plans.
Usually remote support technology we'll see is going to be things that involve Wi-Fi, things that require power. So we're going to need a backup plan for if the power goes out or if we lose internet access. Is there someone on call who's going to be an in-person support? Or what is the plan in the event of that kind of emergency?
And finally, the professional will need to inform the participant using a effective and meaningful method of communication for them of how the tech is going to impact their privacy-- so making sure you explain and they can fully consent to the technology being used.
There are some built-in protections for participant privacy in that we stipulate that recording is prohibited. So there's no recording of either audio or video with any of these remote supports technologies. I know a lot of times, people envision video cameras when I say remote monitoring. They think there's a camera in the house following you around. That is very seldom the case. As we'll see, there are lots of other ways to monitor that don't involve video. And when video is involved, it is only going to be a live stream, never a recording.
Our second stipulation here is that video monitoring is prohibited in bedrooms and bathrooms for participant privacy. Sometimes you might use live audio prompts. If someone, for example, needs prompting for the steps to properly clean themselves in the shower, maybe that would be an audio prompt, but not a video in the bathroom. And any monitors, wherever they are in the house, are always going to have some sort of indicator, usually a light, to tell you and your staff and your guests when that video or audio feed is live, when the device is turned on.
OK, we've talked a little bit about the basic introduction to the definition of this technology. Now let's talk about the fun stuff. What does this technology do? How can it help us? We're going to look at a few different core functions of things that remote supports are commonly used for.
The first one is medication management. So medication management might look like a regularly scheduled prompt-- someone actively calling you at the same time each day, saying it's time to take your medication, maybe video chatting with you while you do that. Or it also can be an as-needed intervention. So maybe someone only calls if you've missed your medication.
The picture on the right here is a system called PillDrill. And again, all the pictures I'm showing are just for illustration purposes, not an endorsement of any specific brands. This particular device does happen to be available to borrow from TechOWL's library if you'd like to try it.
But the PillDrill is a bedside alarm-clock-sized device, which is a medication reminder and tracking system. So it comes with this little medication tray. You can see the push button compartments. And it will also come with either a website or a companion app that a caregiver can use to set up your reminder schedule. So when the clock gives you a reminder, you then pick up the pill compartment, swipe it over the top of the hub, and it will mark that you have taken that dose.
So you can use a total of 14 different compartments-- so maybe a AM and PM meds for a week. And you also have the option of extra scanning tags to put on things that are inhalers or liquid medication, things that don't fit in that pill container.
The other thing that comes with this system that could be an opportunity for remote supports is this little mood indicator die. So you'll see it's a six-sided die. It has emojis on it. So you could say if you're feeling great, if you are angry or sad, something's wrong.
And you can swipe that over the pill drill hub to do a mood check-in. And maybe that would prompt a remote support provider or a caregiver to call and check on you and see if there's anything that you can-- any tools you can utilize, any techniques you can practice to improve your anxiety, or your anger, or whatever it is you might be managing.
All right, so after medication management, another core function of remote supports might be monitoring vital signs. We know that older adults, as well as people with cognitive disabilities, might not always be aware of or be able to accurately communicate early symptoms of illness.
So things like changes in heart rate, changes in respiration rate and how fast or slow you're breathing, or changes in your movement patterns, how often you're getting up in the night, how much you're walking around your house-- changes in those routines could be early Warning signs of a health concern. And it's important to be able to monitor that for someone who maybe won't be able to communicate themselves.
In long-term care, we have this concept of the fatal five. So these are preventable health conditions that cause just disproportionate risk to individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities especially. Those things are choking, dehydration, constipation, sepsis, and seizures. So a lot of those things could potentially be detected, may be picked up through symptoms of lethargy or through changing respiration rates using remote monitoring of vital signs.
This picture on the right here is a little sensor mounted on the wall. In this picture, it's above someone's headboard while they're sleeping. But you might also mount it in the living room, maybe facing an armchair or a sofa that they utilize frequently. Mount one in a couple different places around the house so it can get samples of your heart rate, respiration rate, and those sort of things throughout the day.
And many of these systems fulfill multiple functions. So that Xander Kardian monitoring system that we just saw, as well as the Vayyar radar system on this page, both do many of the same things. Both do vital signs as well as fall response. So a lot of these tools are multifunctional.
But our third function for remote monitoring is fall response. So caregivers can be alerted to a fall based on either the presence of or the absence of motion. We'll talk more about what a fall alert based on the absence of motion means in a minute. But a fall alert based on the presence of motion is what most people think about when they think about Life Alert pendants, for instance. Or if you have an Apple Watch, then that will sense the sudden movement, the sudden change in location where you've fallen to the ground and send an alert to a caregiver.
In this radar illustration, this is, once again, something that requires no interaction from the individual. They don't have to remember to put it on to wear it. It's just a device that's mounted on the wall and is using radar to sense that person's position and movement. So in this picture, you can see it's a device mounted maybe a little bit above the headboard in a bedroom.
And it's almost like a heat map of the room, where you can see that there's been some sort of disturbance near the floor on the foot of the bed, as if maybe someone fell while they were getting out of bed. So the system has detected either the fact that person is in an unexpected position, or maybe they detected the rapidity of the movements. And they're going to now alert a caregiver that, hey, we think a fall has happened. This person might need assistance getting up.
The really wonderful thing about that is there's no recording involved. There's no video camera in that bedroom. There's no audio system in that bedroom. And it requires no interaction on the part of the user. They don't have to remember to wear anything. So it's not foolproof, but a system with far more failure factors than some other options.
Our next example of functions that remote monitoring can serve is wandering. So again, this example here the Boundary Care app, is going to do several of these functions. It does also monitor vital signs. It does also do fall alerts. But what I want to highlight here is its wandering capabilities.
So Boundary Care is a subscription-based app. It runs on Apple Watch. And the features that are relevant to wandering include GPS tracking and geofencing. Geofencing is when you set on a map the boundary of where you expect that person to be at that time of day. And if they exit that boundary, it alerts you.
This watch also has automatic call pickup. So as a caregiver, you can talk to the wearer through their watch to provide prompts or to check in with them, see what's happening. And you don't have to wait for them to click a button to accept your call. So having a timely alert to someone who has maybe gotten out of bed at night unexpectedly, or who has exited the home unexpectedly can really reduce the need for what they call just-in-case staffing. So if someone otherwise doesn't need any support overnight, you don't have to have someone sitting in their house all night just in case. That function could be done remotely. It gives them a little more privacy, perhaps.
And our final function for remote supports is food access and cooking safety. Oftentimes, food access might just look like reminders at meal times. So we know that older adults have a tendency to forget to eat, to be at high risk for dehydration. Maybe they lose track of time, or their body doesn't have the same hunger signals that it used to. So offering just reminders that it's time to go eat a meal might be all the intervention that they need.
Another type of intervention or support might be for monitoring oven or stove usage. So if they are at risk of forgetting that the stove is on, for instance, there are lots of devices that can monitor motion in the kitchen and remind them, potentially alerting a caregiver as well, or devices that can sense heat for that same function. And the example I've put on this slide is Brava. And Brava is a countertop-size smart oven, and it uses infrared lamps. The benefit of infrared lamps is that it cooks faster and with much more specific precision-- so much more targeted heat than a traditional oven.
It gives you multiple cooking zones. So in this picture, someone is cooking three different foods all on one tray. They've got their veggies and their fish, and the oven is going to cook those different foods simultaneously, all to the correct degree of doneness. This reduces cognitive load, makes it much easier to cook for oneself. And it also means that there isn't a lot of excess heat because the infrared light is targeting each of these three food zones very specifically. The surface of the oven itself is not going to be hot to the touch, so that reduces burn risk.
And the smart oven is also app-connected, so you can pre-program meal combinations. They have tutorials, so you can make a full healthy meal like this person has here. Or maybe it's just reheating frozen French fries next to frozen chicken nuggets. And maybe that's what you need. It also has a camera inside the oven, so a remote caregiver could see what's cooking inside and could even shut off the oven remotely if needed.
All right, when we talk about responding to a fall alert or shutting off the oven remotely, who's doing those things? Who's implementing the remote supports? We have two options. Remote support systems can be monitored by natural support providers, like your family members, your friends, your neighbors, people who are already trusted individuals involved in your life. Or it could be monitored by professional support providers through remote monitoring services.
There are benefits to both options. So some of the reasons to consider setting up a system monitored by natural supports by family members and caregivers could include acceptance to the user. So if I would be more comfortable with people I already know and my family checking in on me, that might be a reason to utilize this method.
Another reason could be cost effectiveness. So if you are not eligible for any waiver services, if you don't have funding available and maybe can't afford to pay out of pocket for a professional monitoring service, then it could be a much more affordable option to set up your own sensors and do your own monitoring.
When you're choosing this method, though, it's important that both parties are involved in the decision making. So you really have to factor in the tech skills of the caregiver as well as the tech skills and preferences of the user. And personal device compatibility-- so you want to make sure that whoever is going to be notified as a caregiver has the devices they need to be able to respond to alerts effectively and has the tech skills they need to be able to help maintain and troubleshoot any of that technology.
One way to make this easier for caregivers is to consider using a preconfigured kit. So the example I have on this slide is called Nomo, which is working off of the concept of normal motion. So what does it mean if your routines change, if your normal is disrupted? As an example, if somebody usually gets up from bed, walks through the hallway, goes into their kitchen, then what might it mean if you have a motion sensor in the hallway that hasn't been activated and it's late in the day? It might mean that person hasn't gone out of bed. Maybe they are feeling sick, or maybe they fell somewhere and need help getting up.
Similarly, what might it mean if someone hasn't opened the pantry or the refrigerator today? So if I have a contact sensor on the refrigerator door and I see that it hasn't been opened all day, does that perhaps mean that the person hasn't eaten any meals yet? So we're really looking at the absence of motion as a functional data point.
Or if you have a sensor in the bathroom-- so if the bathroom door has been opened much more frequently than usual or hasn't been opened at all, what might that mean for the person's health and wellbeing? Do they perhaps have a bladder infection going on? Or are they not hydrated enough?
So we're getting lots of really rich, usable information from really simple technology. All it is is motion detectors and contact sensors. And those are things that you could certainly buy off the shelf and set up yourself using your own smart home hub and whatever brand of your choice.
If you've got an Amazon Echo device or a Google Home device and you buy some generic motion detectors and contact sensors, you can certainly replicate that on your own. It's a lot of setup though. And not everyone has the time or the tech savvy to program those devices and to set up the commands and alerts the way that they want them. So Nomo just takes that guesswork out of it and has everything all pre-configured for you to be able to make those decisions of when alerts should be sent.
As another example, there is also a company called Caregiver Smart Solutions that makes a monitoring kit similar to this. There are somewhat more pieces to deal with because it uses separate accessories for detecting temperature, having emergency call buttons rather than those functions being built right into the motion sensors and contact sensors like they are with the Nomo kit. It is, however, a one-time payment.
And the Nomo kit is, I think, a $10 a month subscription, maybe. Whereas the Caregiver Smart Solution kit is a $800 one-time payment. So depending on what your funding sources are, if you're using a waiver or grants to pay for something and it needs to be a one lump sum, that might influence your decision making with some of these tools.
OK. What if you don't have a caregiver available or you would rather have a professional do the monitoring? There are service providers who can take care of this whole process for you-- so everything from the assessment of the individual's need for remote support technology to installing the technology in your home for you, and then the actual 24/7 monitoring and live assistance. So you know there's always going to be someone on the other end of the phone. When you pick up that help tablet, or you press that panic button on the wall, you're always going to get a response.
Who else is available to assist with your decision making about these technologies? So as an Assistive Technology Act program, TechOWL has a number of professionals on staff who can also help you learn about and try out some of these related technologies. The first thing we're going to be able to do is give demonstrations related to some of these devices. We're also going to be able to lend some related things through our lending library and to provide presentations and training on these topics.
TechOWL staff has speech-language therapists, has occupational therapists, assistive technology professionals. So we're going to be those same kinds of people who can write a written recommendation for assistive technology funding, people who are keeping up with the tech in the field and can teach you about what's available because it is ever-changing. No one person can keep up with all of the things out there.
We're also going to be able to give you a personalized consult. So I would love to hear about some examples of how you all are using assistive technology in the chat or during our Q&A period later. But if you're looking for specific, personalized recommendations, the best way to reach us is going to be to set up a time to come into our demonstration center, or to do a consult with us over the phone or over a video call so that we can really get to know your abilities and challenges as a person, what tasks you want to be able to do within your home, and any information about the context and routines of your household and your support providers in order to match you with the assistive technology that is going to be the best possible solution for you.
I will show you some examples of related devices that are available through TechOWL's Lending Library. And for anyone who's not familiar, the Lending Library is a completely free service. So you can place a request online, just like online shopping. The device will ship right to your home with a return shipping label included in the box. So at the end of your five weeks, you put the label on the box and mail it back.
Just like borrowing a book from a regular public library, if there's not a waitlist of other patrons waiting for that item, we're happy to grant you an extension as well if you need a little extra time to try that tech out in your home. And staff are available for support with setting up, troubleshooting, and learning about how to use these devices.
Our first example of devices available from the library are alerting devices for caregivers. On the far left here, we have something called the SafeWander Wake-Up Sensor. So this is a device that attaches to your shirt, to your pajamas. It's just a lightweight plastic sensor, and it detects when you sit up, so then sets an alert to a caregiver through a free app to let you know that this person has woken up. Maybe they need supervision getting out of bed, some assistance.
The device in the center there is just another kind of wake-up sensor. This one's a motion sensor. So this one would go at the foot of the bed, maybe on two sides so that you know whichever side the person's feet go down to when they stand up out of bed, it's detecting the presence of their feet on the floor. And again, going to send an alert using that pager to say, this person's up, so that you can assist them if they need help maybe getting out of bed or if they need supervision before going out into the home.
And then on the far right here, we have an attendant call chime. This is just like a doorbell-size device. This one happens to also be switch-adapted. So if someone doesn't have the fine motor skills to isolate the finger and push that doorbell button, they can attach any switch to it that can be pressed with any other body part in order to call for assistance.
We also have a variety of reminder devices available from the Lending Library. So this first device on the left here is the Reminder Rosie. This is actually not a smart device. It doesn't require Wi-Fi. But it allows you to record your own voice messages.
And I've had people use it to remember medication, to remember meal times, even to remember appointments. So it doesn't have to be a recurring reminder. It can be a one-time reminder. And the nice thing about that is for someone who either doesn't have Wi-Fi access or doesn't like things beeping at them can be a really easy, user-friendly option for a reminder display.
This item in the middle, the SafeWave band, is a new inventory offering. It's a tactile notification band designed for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. And it can be worn on its own, or you can attach it to an Apple Watch, for instance. What the band does is it vibrates.
So this boosts the notification power of your smartphone by translating notifications from existing apps. So you might have an app for a security system or a smart doorbell. Maybe you have an app for baby monitor or an app for your alarm clock. And it will turn all of those alerts into different vibrations on your wrist. So you can customize the frequency and the strength of the vibration for those different functions.
And then finally, on the far right, we have the Echo Show. We've got a number of different smart home devices, including things like smart plugs or those contact sensors for people to try out smart home technology.
We also have a number of medication management tools available. So the MedReady is the classic example of just a rotating pill dispenser. If you've got maybe a complex medication routine, or if you maybe have a tendency to forget what you've already taken and be at risk of overdosing, this could be a really great solution to boost safety. So it holds, I think, 28 compartments. So that could be 28 days of medication. Or if you take medication maybe three times a day, four times a day, it'll hold a lower amount.
But the pill compartments are ramped. So you can just stick your finger in and take them out. Or you can tip the whole thing upside-down to pour out your pills. And it will display the time of day on it. And it'll beep until you open that medication door and actually take your medication. If you don't take your medication, then the nice thing is the door stays closed. The tray advances to the next scheduled compartment. So this prevents double dosing and other related medication errors.
On the far right here is the ePill. It's a very similar device. One of the main differences is that it has a voice alarm. Instead of the beeping, it will tell you out loud, it's time for your medications, and give you a blinking light. The PillDrill in the center there, I think we already talked about-- just another medication system. This one is a smart device that will notify caregivers of missed doses or mood changes.
And then we have personal care tools-- so things like the toothbrush pillow for personal hygiene or an automatic nail clipper to be able to gain more independence with those tasks. Also, things like an auto-shutoff outlet. So this doesn't require connectivity to Wi-Fi or to a remote caregiver. You can just plug it into your existing outlet, and it has a timer built into it. So you push the button when you're going to use the outlet.
And then within 30 minutes, it will turn itself off. So this could be used for things like curling irons, coffee pots, toaster ovens, anything that you might turn on and then accidentally forget to turn off. You can rest assured that your curling iron is not still running on your bathroom counter because you know that it was plugged into this outlet. It will have automatically turned itself off.
And then finally, kitchen tools-- so the automatic pot stirrer here can be a nice choice for someone who is at risk of burning things, perhaps, or letting things boil down on the stove. We also have the iGuardStove shutoff. So this device will actually physically turn off the stove if you've left your cooking unattended.
It's using a motion sensor, so it's not waiting for something to actively catch fire and start smoking. It's going to stop it before we get to that point. So it's sensing that lack of motion in the kitchen, that no one is there supervising the stove, and then it's shutting off the whole outlet, shutting off the power to the stove.
This particular model is for electric stoves. They do make one for gas stoves. But the installation is a little more complicated, so TechOWL does not lend that particular model in our library. But we'd be happy to talk to you about it and see if it'd be something that would meet your needs.
On the right here, the picture is of an Attento Board, which is a peg board that can be used to hold stable various items. This person has used it to hold their bowl of macaroni as they carry it from the countertop to the table. It's completely customizable in how you position those pegs, so it could be used to help grip and avoid spilling lots of different items.
At the bottom, we have the one-handed cutting board. This can be a great safety tool even for people who have use of both hands because when you've put something into the vise or into the peg grip to cut it, that means your second hand is not in there next to the knife, holding the food. So you're not at risk of accidentally nicking or cutting your fingers.
Another tool to increase kitchen safety is the KiddiKutter knife. So this is a serrated blade ceramic knife. It'll cut through fruits, vegetables, meats, all those sorts of things. But it won't cut skin, so it won't cut through your fingers.
And then the automatic can opener-- again, another tool that could be great for someone who has fine motor challenges, has arthritis, or other reasons they can't use a traditional can opener. But it's also just great for safety of not having your fingers near sharp edges. So when this takes off the top of the can, it's entirely smooth-- all things that can increase your independence and safety in the kitchen.
We do have the option for suggesting new library items. So right now, we are looking at our budget for the upcoming year and making some purchasing decisions. And we would love to make those decisions based on the real-life needs of our consumers. So if there's something you've seen that you would like the chance to try, please let us know, either by using this suggestion form or just by calling us, sending us an email, sending us a quick web chat. Let us know what devices you've seen out there that you'd be interested in trialing for yourself or for your clients and consumers.
You can utilize any of these contact methods to reach us. We have an 800 number, and email, as well as live web chat. All of those are available 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday. Or you can leave a message using any of those methods, and we will get back to you.
We also have walk-in hours at our local community space for anyone who's local to Philadelphia. And if you're not in Philadelphia but you are in Pennsylvania, then go ahead to our website or reach out to us to learn where your nearest TechOWL Resource Center is because we have resource centers that can provide demonstrations and consults all across Pennsylvania.
I will also put in the chat again the link for finding your local AT Act program if you are not in Pennsylvania. And while I do that, I will give you guys the opportunity to utilize our feedback survey and to put any questions/comments in the chat. Or if you'd like to raise your hand to speak or sign a comment, please feel free to do so. We want to know what everyone is thinking about some of these technologies, what your experiences have been so far with remote support technologies.
Does anyone have any questions or experiences they would like to share with the group today?
AUDIENCE: Hi. This is Christine Breakstone. I'm a coordinator for Self-Advocates United as One. And I just want to say how much I really enjoyed this presentation, and am very inspired by some of the independence that I think these technologies can provide. And so I'm just glad that I had the opportunity to hear about it. And I'd like for-- if there's ways that I can share this information with the Self-Advocates, that would be wonderful.
CAITLIN MCKENNEY: Absolutely. Thank you for joining us, Christine. And we'd love to come to a workshop or a presentation with your group if people want to learn more. This exact presentation itself will also be available as a recording. So it will be loaded on our website within the next couple of weeks. We send it out for polishing up first. But when it's available, it'll be on that disabilities.temple.edu website. And all of the past Tech Accelerator webinars are also already loaded up there too if there are any other topics that you could potentially be interested in. Thanks so much for joining us.
If no one has any other questions, I did put in the chat the link to see our past or future webinars, the link to find your state AT Act program, as well as the link to read the full text of the Pennsylvania Medicaid waivers. If you are someone who has a home and community-based services in Pennsylvania and you want to know my sources for things like the lifetime AT limits and the recommending professional qualifications, you can read that for yourself in the full text of the waivers on that website.
I hope you will all consider joining us again next month. Our next few sessions are going to be about hearing technology, vision technology, and reading technology. So please feel free to register for any of those. The links for registration are in the chat, the disabilities.temple.edu site. And they will also be included in a follow-up email, along with the materials from this presentation.
