VirtuAlly Case Study: Keeping Memory Care Patients Safe and Secure With Remote Redirection

Overview:

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 6.5 million people are living with Alzheimer’s in 2022 - most of whom are 65 or older. As many families know, Alzheimer’s is a ruthless disease that slowly destroys its targets’ memory and other cognitive functions.  

In 2021, VirtuAlly was onboarded to an Alzheimer’s care facility to monitor seven memory care patients. Over time, VirtuAlly and it’s Patient Safety Observers developed trusting relationships with the patients and their caretakers, and regularly redirected them from harmful behavior. 

Challenge:

Due to the degenerative nature of the disease, individuals with Alzheimer’s may exhibit unpredictable behavior. While falls and other accidents are a major concern of all care facilities, the addition of unpredictable behavior poses an increased risk – especially without constant monitoring from staff. 

One solution to prevent such accidents is in-person sitters, but these can be costly to families  and in some cases, may reduce patients’ sense of autonomy. Onsite staff is also required to make hourly rounds all throughout the night, but they find this disturbs their residents and leaves them even more prone to falls after being awakened. 

Overall, the unpredictable nature of Alzheimer’s, high costs for in-person sitters, and hesitancy to disturb residents leave Alzheimer’s facilities searching for solutions. 

Impact

We installed VirtuAlly Continuous Virtual Monitoring technology in seven residents’ rooms to redirect and assist when the staff was not physically present. By the tenth day of observation, residents were accustomed to the Patient Safety Observers (PSOs) presence, and felt a sense of security with another set of eyes in the room. Facilities can also turn off the screen, so residents can sleep better and maintain their sense of autonomy. 

Our PSOs were also able to successfully redirect residents while onsite clinical staff members responded, preventing potentially life-threatening falls and other accidents. 

Outcomes

• VirtuAlly decreased resident falls

• Families saved thousands by not having to pay in-person sitter costs

• PSOs eased confusion and comforted Alzheimer’s residents 

• One of our PSOs successfully redirected a blind Alzheimer’s resident in distress for 13 minutes until an on-site staff member arrived