Worried About Your Parents? Sonamba Gives You Peace of Mind

My Mom, enjoying today's technology.

Grandparents Day is this week on Sept. 11th.  Grandparents Day became a national holiday in 1978 when President Jimmy Carter declared the first Sunday after Labor Day as the official day to celebrate grandparents.  A woman by the name of Marian McQuade, came up with the idea in 1970, as a way to encourage family members to visit the seniors in their family.

Grandparents Day is a good day to celebrate family but it is also a reminder of how important our senior family members are to us and how we, as a younger generation, need to plan how to care for them as they grow older.

Today’s Seniors

Seniors are more independent that in earlier years, opting to live their homes as long as possible as opposed to moving in with their son’s or daughter’s family. Nearly 80% of seniors over 60 years live on their own.(1.)

The average life expectancy continues to rise, with women averaging 80 years old and men averaging 74 years old.  Due to aging Baby Boomers, the American population of people over 65 will double  to 70 million in the next 30 years and make up 20% of the population.

What About Your Parents?

Caring for aging parents in their homes while managing your own family and constant schedules is no easy task.  My mom is 76, has fallen many times, has been in ICU twice in the past two years, once after a 5-week hospital stay, and nearly died.  I still remember getting the dreaded 2 am phone call from a doctor recommending coming to the hospital to say goodbye.  A heart shocking shot revived her before I arrived.  Today, I’m elated to say that Mom is living in an Assisted Living home not too far from my house.

I’m fortunate that my Mom was agreeable to giving up her house and moving into the Assisted Living home.  It has saved me tons of worry that she would fall and not be able to get help.  My grandmother (my Mom’s mom) fell once in the bathtub when she was in her 70’s.  She banged her head, got a concussion, and couldn’t get out of the bathtub to call for help.  Fortunately, hours later, she finally managed to drag herself to a phone.

A large number of my friends with similar-aged parents have no intention of leaving their homes.  In fact, my second set of parents, my in-laws, also 76, live at home with no plans to leave.

How can you extend independence to your parents/in-laws in their home yet offer safeguards that will give you the assurance that your parents are OK or at least that you can respond to them ASAP should an emergency occur?

Sonamba

About this time last year, I discovered a brand new product for Seniors about to be introduced in the market.  This new product is called Sonamba, made from pomdevices.   It’s a very fascinating device that gives seniors their  independence and their adult daughter(s)  and/or son(s)  some peace of mind.

The Sonamba is what pomdevices calls a “well being status monitor.”  It’s a LCD device that detects motion in the main room of the senior’s home and texts or e-mail’s status messages to their daughter/son/caregiver based on sounds and motion the device tracks.  For example, if there’s little detected activity, you’ll be alerted.

The Sonamba fascinated me,  so I approached pomdevices and asked them if the WellConnectedMom.com could test it.

They happily obliged.  I set up the Sonamba in my mother-in-law’s house, my Mom’s house, and in my own to test out its features.

The Sonamba packs a lot of punch in this table-top LCD device.  It’s very obvious to me that pomdevices has put a lot of thought into each feature and has tested in on their own parents.  Last year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), I had the opportunity to meet the founder and CEO, Ajit Pendse and Robert Burke, co-founder and VP of Marketing; I was very impressed with both of them.  Both men are very down to earth and passionate about their product.

Set Up 

In setting up the Sonamba I learned one important lesson – use the included stylus!  Entering in the data (like my mother-in-law’s name, address, my contact phone number, etc.) frustrated me until I realized there was a stylus included.  Wow, data entry went faster.  I made sure my mom and mother-in-law used the stylus when they wanted to enter their prescription data or send me a text message.

Features

7 inch LCD Touchscreen Screen – shows options for use, pictures, text messages

Motion Tracking – tracks motion in a room to make sure there is movement throughout the day

Sound Tracking – monitors sounds (movement, talking, etc.) to ensure of room occupancy

Home/Away Buttons – physical lighted buttons are pressed to indicate to caregivers when the senior is home or away

 Picture Fame – the Sonamba can act as a digital picture frame displaying family pictures when the Sonamba menu is not in use. Pictures are added by USB, mySonamba web portal, or the Sonamba iPhone app.  It’s a great way for seniors to feel connected to their families.

Separate Emergency Button –  The Sonamba also comes with a wrist or necklace pendant that the senior pushes if requiring emergency help.  When pressed, a text is sent to caregivers with the option for a pre-recorded message to be sent to Emergency as well.  When the emergency button is pressed, as the caregiver, you will receive this message:

 “This is an emergency message to caregivers from your loved one’s Sonamba, there may be an emergency.  Please contact your Sonamba user immediately on their landline.”

Medication Reminder – medications can be entered into the Sonamba with the proper times to be taken.  Once the time happens, an audible and visible reminder appears to help Seniors take their medications at the right time.  If the senior is outside of the home, a reminder note will be on the Sonamba when they return.  According to pomdevices, missing medications is a leading cause of falls and responsible for up to 60% of seniors needing emergency services.

Calendar Events – doctor appointments, hair appointments, family gatherings, you name it can be entered into the Sonamba to remind seniors of important events.  I love this feature, especially since you can use Sonamba’s new free  iPhone app to add dates to Sonamba remotely.

Text Messages – this is a great feature – now you can text your parents directly and the message appears front and center on their Sonamba — they can’t miss it.  They can then use the touchscreen keyboard to send you a message back.  Both my mom and mother-in-law used this feature with me, it was fantastic…the first texts I have ever received from them.  Are you kids texters?  Now they have a new way to keep in touch with gramma.

Games – Sonamba comes equipped with one “Connect Four” type of game.  Maintaining cognitive ability can be done through keeping the mind active.  This Four in a Row game helps with this process.  Honestly, my mom never played the game.  But every time my kids went to visit her, they couldn’t wait to play.

iPhone App – this is a new free feature and it is terrific.  I used to have to go to my Mom’s house to input new medications or set up calendar events to remind her about when I was coming to pick her up for doctor appointments for for lunch out.  Now I can do all this from my iPad.  It is such a huge convenience setting up times from home and having a reminder pop up on her screen at the right time.  It’s more reliable than her memory, her calendar, and my remembering to call her ahead of time to remind her.

I can now send photos from the Photo Library on my iPad or as they happen using the iPhone App.  Pictures go right into the scrolling slideshow on my Mom’s Sonamba.  Love it!  This feature alone makes it one of the best picture frames on the market.

Another feature I love is that I if my Mom forgets to set her status to “Away” when she leaves, I can set it for her on the iPhone app.  Then, when she returns, she’ll see the red-lit “Away” button on her Sonamba, reminding her to press “home” to alert me by text that she’s arrived safely.

MySonamba.com offers similar features to the iPhone app plus enhanced information.  For example, you can see a graphed view the activity levels of your parent throughout the day or week.  For the first week, Sonamba monitors activity levels for a baseline of defined activity. This baseline is then compared against everyday activity.  Greatly diminished activity warrants a text to caregivers to alert them of this changed status.

Pro’s:

• Gives peace of mind to senior’s children/caregivers
• Gives the parent(s) independence to stay in their home longer
• As a caregiver, you can choose which type of messages Sonamba sends you
• Helps your parent(s) remember to take their medicines.  A text will be sent to you if they forgot.
• You control the medicine reminders.  They can only be deleted or changed if the password is known to change them
• Finally, you can text messages to your parent(s) right from your phone and they’ll receive it instantly.  No need to buy them a cellphone.  Sonamba uses a big keyboard, so texting is easier
• No Internet wireless or wired connection needed since the Sonamba uses cellular communications
• Sonamba’s activity monitor is great, allowing the daughter/son/caregiver insight into how their parent(s) are doing throughout the day
• The iPhone app is an incredible aid to help children/caregivers update the Sonamba with new medication and calendar event reminders remotely
• Pictures can be added to the Sonamba remotely as well – making it easy to upload your latest family vacation pictures or kids’ school pictures
• There is no “off” button, making it more likely to stay on.  Seniors often turn off photo frames to save energy
• It’s cheaper than moving your parent to a home to be monitored

Con‘s:

• Senior could click off medicine reminders without taking medicines
• Due to its cellular connection, there is a rather pricey monthly cost
• Sonamba won’t work if your parent refuses or forgets to use it
• The initial investment to buy the Sonamba unit is costly if you choose the lower monthly plan
• Seniors could forget to press the AWAY or HOME button, but you’ll be alerted with low activity so you can remind them for the next time
• The battery burns through too quickly on the emergency pendant.  Expect to replace the battery at least 4-6 times a year

A Daughter’s Perspective

Sonamba has opened up many more ways to communicate with my mom & mother-in-law that wasn’t possible before. Texting, checking in via the iPhone app (on my iPad), and sending pics through mySonamba.com and the iPhone app is more convenient and I checked in with them more as a result.

In my test with my mom and mother-in-law, they both knew the Sonamba would be in their homes for at least a month.  I was very happy with their continued use of the Sonamba.  When I was out of town, my mother-in-law texted me more than my husband because the Sonamba makes texting easier and more intuitive for seniors.  I was very proud of  my mom’s and mom-in-law’s use of the Sonamba.     I don’t know how they would do if the Sonamba was in their house permanently.  I suspect their frequent use of it would dwindle.  As it was, my Mom would often forget to set the “Away” sign on for me, but since she lives in an Assisted Home, she wasn’t gone for long.

Sonamba made a smart move in moving more control of the Sonamba in the hands of the caretaker/daughter/son.  Utilizing mySonamba.com and the iPhone app, the caretaker/daughter/son can make using the Sonamba much more relevant in the seniors lives by using the calendar event reminders, med reminders, assisting them with the “Away” status, sending text messages, and adding family pictures.