{"id":2403,"date":"2011-09-09T02:48:54","date_gmt":"2011-09-08T19:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/?p=2403"},"modified":"2011-09-09T02:48:56","modified_gmt":"2011-09-08T19:48:56","slug":"worried-about-your-parents-sonamba-gives-you-peace-of-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/worried-about-your-parents-sonamba-gives-you-peace-of-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Worried About Your Parents? Sonamba Gives You Peace of Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

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My Mom, enjoying today's technology.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

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Grandparents Day is this week on Sept. 11th. \u00a0Grandparents Day became\u00a0a national holiday in 1978 when President Jimmy Carter declared the first Sunday after Labor Day as the official day to celebrate grandparents. \u00a0A 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Today’s Seniors<\/span><\/h2>\n

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.)<\/p>\n

The average life expectancy continues to rise, with women averaging 80 years old and men averaging 74 years old. \u00a0Due to aging Baby Boomers, the American population of people over 65 will double \u00a0to 70 million in the next 30 years and make up 20% of the population.<\/p>\n

What About Your Parents?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Caring for aging parents in their homes while managing your own family and constant schedules is no easy task. \u00a0My mom is 76,\u00a0has fallen many times,\u00a0has been in ICU twice in the past two years, once after a\u00a05-week hospital stay, and nearly died. \u00a0I still remember getting the dreaded 2 am phone call from a doctor recommending coming to the hospital to say goodbye. \u00a0A heart shocking shot revived her before I arrived. \u00a0Today, I’m elated to say that Mom is living in an Assisted Living home not too far from my house.<\/p>\n

I’m fortunate that my Mom was agreeable to giving up her house and moving into the Assisted Living home. \u00a0It has saved me tons of worry that she would fall and not be able to get help. \u00a0My grandmother (my Mom’s mom) fell once in the bathtub when she was in her 70’s. \u00a0She banged her head, got a concussion, and couldn’t get out of the bathtub to call for help. \u00a0Fortunately, hours later, she finally managed to drag herself to a phone.<\/p>\n

A large number of my friends with similar-aged parents have no intention of leaving their homes. \u00a0In fact, my second set of parents, my in-laws, also 76, live at home with no plans to leave.<\/p>\n

How can you extend independence to your parents\/in-laws in their home yet offer\u00a0safeguards\u00a0that will give you the assurance that your parents are OK or at least that you can respond to them ASAP should an emergency occur?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sonamba<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Front-viewAbout this time last year, I discovered a brand new product for Seniors about to be introduced in the market. \u00a0This new product is called Sonamba<\/a>,\u00a0made from pomdevices. \u00a0 It’s a very fascinating device that gives\u00a0seniors their \u00a0independence and their adult\u00a0daughter(s)\u00a0\u00a0and\/or\u00a0son(s) \u00a0some peace of mind.<\/p>\n

The Sonamba is what pomdevices calls a “well being status monitor.”<\/em><\/span> \u00a0It’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. \u00a0For example, if there’s little detected activity, you’ll\u00a0be alerted.<\/p>\n

The Sonamba fascinated me, \u00a0so I approached pomdevices and asked them if the WellConnectedMom.com could test it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They happily obliged. \u00a0I set up the Sonamba in my mother-in-law’s house, my Mom’s house, and in my own to test out its features.<\/p>\n

The Sonamba packs a lot of punch in this table-top LCD device. \u00a0It’s very obvious to me that pomdevices has put a lot of thought into each feature and has tested in on their own parents. \u00a0Last year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), <\/a>I had the opportunity to meet the founder and CEO,\u00a0Ajit Pendse and Robert Burke, co-founder and VP of Marketing; I was very impressed with both of them. \u00a0Both men are very down to earth and passionate about their product.<\/p>\n

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Set Up\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In setting up the Sonamba I learned one important lesson – use the included stylus! \u00a0Entering in the data (like my mother-\"\"<\/a>in-law’s name, address, my contact phone number, etc.) frustrated me until I realized there was a stylus included.\u00a0 Wow, data entry went faster.\u00a0 I made sure my mom and mother-in-law used the stylus when they wanted to enter\u00a0their prescription data or send me a text message.<\/p>\n

Features<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

7 inch LCD Touchscreen Screen<\/strong> – shows options for use, pictures, text messages<\/p>\n

Motion Tracking<\/strong> – tracks motion in a room to make sure there is movement throughout the day<\/p>\n

Sound Tracking<\/strong> – monitors sounds (movement, talking, etc.) to ensure of room occupancy<\/p>\n

Home\/Away Buttons<\/strong> – physical lighted buttons are pressed to indicate to caregivers when the senior\u00a0is home or away<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0Picture Fame<\/strong> –\u00a0the Sonamba can act as a digital picture frame displaying family pictures\u00a0when the Sonamba menu is not in use. Pictures are added by USB, mySonamba web portal, or the Sonamba iPhone app. \u00a0It’s a great way for seniors to feel connected to their families.<\/p>\n

Separate Emergency Button<\/strong> –\u00a0\u00a0The Sonamba also comes with a wrist or necklace pendant that the senior pushes if requiring emergency help. \u00a0When pressed, a text is sent to caregivers with the option for a pre-recorded message to be sent to Emergency as well. \u00a0When the emergency button is pressed, as the caregiver, you will receive this\u00a0message:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0“This is an emergency message to caregivers from your loved one’s\u00a0Sonamba, there may be an emergency.\u00a0 Please contact your Sonamba user immediately on their landline.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Medication Reminder<\/strong> – medications can be entered into the Sonamba with the proper times to be taken. \u00a0Once the time happens, an audible and visible reminder appears to help Seniors take their medications at the right time. \u00a0If the senior is outside of the home, a reminder note will be on the Sonamba when they return. \u00a0According to pomdevices, missing medications is a leading cause of falls and responsible for up to 60% of seniors needing emergency services.<\/p>\n

Calendar Events<\/strong> – doctor appointments, hair appointments, family gatherings, you name it can be entered into the Sonamba to remind seniors of important events. \u00a0I love this feature, especially since you can use Sonamba’s new free \u00a0iPhone app to add dates to Sonamba remotely.<\/p>\n

Text Messages<\/strong> – this is a great feature – now you can text your parents directly and the message appears front\"\"<\/a> and center on their Sonamba — they can’t miss it. \u00a0They can then use the touchscreen keyboard to send you a message back. \u00a0Both my mom and mother-in-law used this feature with me, it was fantastic…the first texts I have ever received from them. \u00a0Are you kids texters? \u00a0Now they have a new way to keep in touch with gramma.<\/p>\n

Games<\/strong>\u00a0– Sonamba comes equipped with one “Connect Four” type of game. \u00a0Maintaining cognitive ability can be done through keeping the mind active. \u00a0This Four in a Row game helps with this process. \u00a0Honestly, my mom never played the game. \u00a0But every time my kids went to visit her, they couldn’t wait to play.<\/p>\n

iPhone App<\/strong> – this is a new free feature and it is terrific. \u00a0I used to have to go to my Mom’s house to input new\"\"<\/a> 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. \u00a0Now I can do all this from my iPad. \u00a0It is such a huge convenience setting up times from home and having a reminder pop up on her screen at the right time. \u00a0It’s more reliable than her memory, her calendar, and my remembering to call her ahead of time to remind her.<\/p>\n

I can now send photos from the Photo Library on my iPad or as they happen using the iPhone App. \u00a0Pictures go right into the scrolling slideshow on my Mom’s Sonamba. \u00a0Love it! \u00a0This feature alone makes it one of the best picture frames on the market.<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0Then, 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.<\/p>\n

MySonamba.com offers similar features to the iPhone app plus enhanced information. \u00a0For example, you can see a graphed view the activity levels of your parent throughout the day or week. \u00a0For the first week, Sonamba monitors activity levels for a baseline of defined activity. This baseline is then compared against everyday activity. \u00a0Greatly diminished activity warrants a text to caregivers to alert them of this changed status.<\/p>\n

Pro’s<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n