"Comfort Zone," The New Alzheimer's Tracking System, is Launched
Have you heard of Comfort Zone?
Comfort Zone is the web application that works with the LBS that acts like a car's GPS system to track a person. A person with Alzheimer's wears or carries the locator device (a pager or wrist-worn device) or has one mounted in their car. As they move around town or even beyond, the device gets signals from satellites and nearby cell phone towers. From there, the device "speaks" to the Comfort Zone software application. Then family members can access the information of their loved one's whereabouts by going online or calling the monitoring center. You can select "the level of monitoring need" according to the Alzheimer's patient's abilities and mobility options. You can set up alerts so that once a person moves beyond the "comfort zone" you are notified or you can set up a way emergency assistance is called for a possible wandering incident.
The advantages of using Comfort Zone seem to be that, instead of usual technology-assisted tracking, there are more customizable options for Alz in particular.
• As the disease progresses, the settings can be adjusted to assure for more protection and closer monitoring.
• Comfort Zone touts it's easy usability (you can just go online, receive a text message, or call a monitoring center. Password-protected website allows you to use it anywhere you can go online.)
• It can be adjusted anytime without a lot of work.
• The monitoring call center is available 24/7 for location management services if you can't go online.
• Comfort Zone also comes with the MedicAlert + Alzheimer's Association Safe Return program (which provides a 24hr emergency response service for wandering or medical emergency cases).
• Multiple family members can use it no matter where they are in the country (even if you are on vacation, etc).
• Because its paired with the Alzheimer's Association you receive 24/7 Helpline for confidential counseling, referrals, safety and disease education, and local support.
Sounds great right? It's important to remember there are a few drawbacks - the biggest of which seem to include that location devices don't always work 100% of the time perfectly. Just like with cell service, certain areas have weak or no signal and sometimes there are delays. So this is important to keep in mind - even if you sign up, there are no fool-proof guarantees. You can choose how often you are updated as to where your Alz family member is (every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes). If you choose the 15 minute plan, for example, it will take 1-15 minutes for you to receive the alert depending on the time and location of the last report. Another important consideration is the cost. The plans start at $42.99 per month (plus an addition $45 activation fee). There are more plans depending on each device system and communication method and, of course, higher costs.
Read more about Comfort Zone on Alz.org, Watch the Comfort Zone video at the Alz.org's facebook page, See the ABC News coverage on Comfort Zone
What do you think of Comfort Zone?
Are there elements of the system that worry you?
What are others in your online communities saying about Comfort Zone or other tracking systems?
Do you think this will change the way Alzheimer's patients live?
How can more people get signed up and monitored?
What other technological advances would you like to see in the Alzheimer's community? What other medical communities could benefit from this tracking or similar technological system?
Comfort Zone is the web application that works with the LBS that acts like a car's GPS system to track a person. A person with Alzheimer's wears or carries the locator device (a pager or wrist-worn device) or has one mounted in their car. As they move around town or even beyond, the device gets signals from satellites and nearby cell phone towers. From there, the device "speaks" to the Comfort Zone software application. Then family members can access the information of their loved one's whereabouts by going online or calling the monitoring center. You can select "the level of monitoring need" according to the Alzheimer's patient's abilities and mobility options. You can set up alerts so that once a person moves beyond the "comfort zone" you are notified or you can set up a way emergency assistance is called for a possible wandering incident.
The advantages of using Comfort Zone seem to be that, instead of usual technology-assisted tracking, there are more customizable options for Alz in particular.
• As the disease progresses, the settings can be adjusted to assure for more protection and closer monitoring.
• Comfort Zone touts it's easy usability (you can just go online, receive a text message, or call a monitoring center. Password-protected website allows you to use it anywhere you can go online.)
• It can be adjusted anytime without a lot of work.
• The monitoring call center is available 24/7 for location management services if you can't go online.
• Comfort Zone also comes with the MedicAlert + Alzheimer's Association Safe Return program (which provides a 24hr emergency response service for wandering or medical emergency cases).
• Multiple family members can use it no matter where they are in the country (even if you are on vacation, etc).
• Because its paired with the Alzheimer's Association you receive 24/7 Helpline for confidential counseling, referrals, safety and disease education, and local support.
Sounds great right? It's important to remember there are a few drawbacks - the biggest of which seem to include that location devices don't always work 100% of the time perfectly. Just like with cell service, certain areas have weak or no signal and sometimes there are delays. So this is important to keep in mind - even if you sign up, there are no fool-proof guarantees. You can choose how often you are updated as to where your Alz family member is (every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes). If you choose the 15 minute plan, for example, it will take 1-15 minutes for you to receive the alert depending on the time and location of the last report. Another important consideration is the cost. The plans start at $42.99 per month (plus an addition $45 activation fee). There are more plans depending on each device system and communication method and, of course, higher costs.
Read more about Comfort Zone on Alz.org, Watch the Comfort Zone video at the Alz.org's facebook page, See the ABC News coverage on Comfort Zone
What do you think of Comfort Zone?
Are there elements of the system that worry you?
What are others in your online communities saying about Comfort Zone or other tracking systems?
Do you think this will change the way Alzheimer's patients live?
How can more people get signed up and monitored?
What other technological advances would you like to see in the Alzheimer's community? What other medical communities could benefit from this tracking or similar technological system?
Tags: alert, alzheimer's, caregiver, comfort, dementia, family, gps, help, hospital, lost
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