Independa

Kian Saneii, Founder & CEO

Decades before smartphones, the internet, and desktop PCs found their place in homes, televisions (TV) were peoples’ windows to the world. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons older adults are so comfortable using their TVs. Older adults living at home or in senior living communities prefer the ease of use and minimalism associated with TV sets over the “intricate” multi-optioned interfaces of smart devices. The lack of gadget savviness is robbing them of social and even clinical engagement in today’s digital-first world.

We all want to see and be seen. It’s a basic human need. For too long lonely and isolated, older adults have longed to be better connected with loved ones and caregivers. The issues around social isolation and physical vulnerability of the elderly have been aggravated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As our country braces against the ebb and flow of the pandemic, the repercussions of self-quarantine or isolation have had a detrimental impact on the mental and physical well-being of the geriatric population. While families and loved ones are desperately looking for effective means to engage with each other on a personal level, caregivers are seeking ways to improve and streamline care delivery via better ways to interact and monitor, both remotely and on-premise. Major staffing crises in senior living and home care industries have led to further challenges using traditional care delivery models.

This is where California-based Independa is moving the needle with its innovative platform that provides the zenith of user-friendliness to ultimately enable older adults to engage intuitively with the outside world and receive care via their good old (and new) TV sets. Independa recognized early on that the omnipresent TV appliance can be transformed into the go-to platform for holistic and bidirectional engagement of older adults. Independa’s offering benefits those with medical conditions, who are physically challenged, living in hard to reach rural areas, convalescing, or in care/rehab programs.

All-in-one Solution for Care Delivery and Social Engagement

Independa’s award-winning solution is an enterprise-grade, television-based solution for care recipients that is an all-in-one remote engagement, education, and care platform. The system consists of an easy to install candy-bar sized device that’s connected to a TV (the Independa AnyTV Companion®) and a Webcam that sits atop the TV. The company thereby delivers a HIPAA-compliant collaboration window that helps older adults keep in touch with their family, friends and care personnel from the safety and comfort of their own homes or senior living location.

Starting in 2022, a leading global TV manufacturer will have Independa integrated at the feature level within its TV operating system, delivering the Independa engagement platform without the need for the Independa AnyTV Companion®. This is a major step by a worldwide brand to lead the way in the “Consumerization of Healthcare”.

For social engagement, older adults can stay engaged via video calls and can access content such as educational, exercise and faith-based videos. The platform also provides families real-time insights into care recipients’ daily schedules and activities. Independa does all of this with care recipient TVs without the usual app updates, passwords, virus scans, or small and hard to maneuver screens associated with computers, tablets and smartphones. Staff and family members get to manage and access the system via a browser (computers, tablets or smartphones) or from their iOS or Android mobile (smartphones and tablets). Independa’s software terms of use allow for unlimited staff and family access to the care recipient, enabling and indeed encouraging frictionless engagement.

With Independa, home care organizations can provide remote, virtual care and high-margin services with minimal travel and overhead. Staff can be at one place and engage and engage with a higher number of clients. They can broadcast messages and content to both the care recipients and their families. The platform allows health providers to receive payment for doctor or pharmacist visits. COVID made this possible due to payment guideline changes. These benefits allow organizations to efficiently deliver affordable services that provide value to residents.

Independa’s powerful telecollaboration capabilities allow home caregivers, as well as nurses, doctors, and pharmacists, to interact with and check in with the users.

“Through one big screen powered by Independa, therapy sessions can be conducted live and remotely,” says Kian Saneii, Founder & CEO at Independa. For instance, dementia specialists can deliver valuable reminiscence therapy via the TV and offer memory and cognitive activities. The platform also integrates with other health and IoT devices, allowing caregivers to actively monitor the individual’s health. The system sends alerts to their family, and/or care personnel—when something isn’t quite right. This allows them to spot subtle symptoms, abnormalities, or behavioral changes before they snowball into big problems. The platform enables organizations to deliver surveys right on the TV screen and identify trends and opportunities to improve.

With Independa, senior living communities can create staff efficiencies by delivering much of what residents need using their TV. For example, food menus can be delivered via TV, an efficient way for staff to inform residents about menus. Community calendars help staff efficiently organize activities and residents to sign up for them and be reminded of their scheduled events. Digital Signage and Broadcast message capabilities are included in the platform. Even maintenance work orders can be submitted in real-time from the TV. Independa has created the pre-eminent platform for senior living organizations to more efficiently and effectively engage with their residents across a wide range of services and benefits. This means they require less staff time to deliver better resident experiences and outcomes.
“Essentially, Independa gives our customers, whether in senior living or home care or any other care industry, the ability to virtually see and engage with everyone under their care. We improve the lives of those using our system. Independa has built a platform dedicated to better engagement across the board, especially for those who are hardest to reach, the most expensive to care for, the most susceptible to COVID and the most in need of social and clinical engagement from a distance. The possibilities and the benefits are limitless,” says Saneii.

Built for Caregivers by Caregivers

Independa leverages vast decades of experience in operationalizing its customers’ success as they go to market. The company onboards each customer through training and via customized, well-planned rollout of features to staff, family, and friends.

The heart and soul of Independa is its workforce and leadership—people with first-hand knowledge of the needs of the older adults and organizations serving them have built a platform ground-up to tackle real world issues. Independa’s Chief Medical Officer, Richard Della Penna, MD, is a well-known geriatrician with decades of experience. Dr. Della Penna led all of Kaiser Permanente’s eldercare programs and was on the board of the Alzheimer Association. He received awards during his distinguished career for his contributions. His availability for and collaboration with Independa’s clients is an invaluable part of their engagement strategy.

Exemplary Success Stories that Speak Volumes

Over the years, Independa has supported numerous caregivers and enabled older adults to remain in their current stage of care longer, safer, and more comfortably. The success story of one of its clients, Fox Home Health, exemplifies Independa’s value proposition. Fox Home Health, a premium private duty home health care agency licensed by California’s Department of Public Health, provides skilled and non-skilled services to elders in assisted living centers. The founder and CEO of Fox Home Health, Cheryl Fox, is a Registered Nurse who sought the help of Independa to tackle some of the challenges faced by their residents at Fox. She decided on Independa after thoroughly searching the market for the best in breed technology solution in “remote patient engagement”.

By partnering with Independa, Fox Home Health now delivers a service that goes beyond the scope of what they thought possible. Cheryl was looking for a platform that was health-oriented, user-friendly, cost efficient and enabled social engagement with family and friends as well. She wanted the ability to connect with clients through different avenues, such as videos, to see how it would benefit them, especially at the time of the pandemic. “It’s been phenomenal because many of the staff are hesitant to go directly into the care recipients’ homes. We were able to monitor and engage with clients via video chats, even with clients with dementia,” says Cheryl. To bring in entertainment content alongside standard medical videos, Fox Home Health partnered with a company in New York City to develop exercise program videos with professional dancers. The initiative aimed to bring fresh, engaging content which goes well beyond the usual passive TV content that does not engage people. Cheryl saw that for their patient population with agitated dementia, the content (streamed via Independa) was able to divert their attention long enough to avoid the need for additional medication. Cheryl recalls an instance where she received an Independa video call from a caregiver who was having difficulty redirecting a patient. At that point, Cheryl put on music in the background through Independa’s platform, which made both of them get up and start dancing! They danced until the patient began giggling and laughing, and the caregiver was able to send him off to sleep, preventing the need for administering behavior modifying medications. Independa was able to facilitate a new way for that patient to live a better life. Its technology holds the vast potential to do much more.

“In another instance, we were able to connect a woman in hospice with her great, great grandson who was born on her birthday. We were able to loop in the family from around the country through Independa. And the great, great grandmother sang happy birthday with the whole family. Everybody was able to be a part of it,” recalls Cheryl. “This would not have been possible if we required this client to log into a computer, to launch an app and enter a password – if they remembered it,” she added.

Having scripted several such success stories, Independa continues to broaden the scope of its offering, including options to purchase services or items right through the TV. In parallel, the company continues to enhance its offerings to strengthen its position as the go-to platform for remote engagement and care services for organizations caring for those who are the hardest to reach and most vulnerable.