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The goal behind Imagine!’s SmartHome is to provide a facility that incorporates cutting edge technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of service and supports for people with disabilities. In addition, creating this model has enormous potential to impact groups of people with related concerns (dementia, autism, chronic mental illness, Alzheimer’s).
There are many reasons driving this goal of creating a new way of providing residential services:
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 Complexity |
Healthcare is becoming increasingly complex as people live longer. Residential healthcare facilities, including facilities for people with developmental disabilities, are increasingly filling with older residents with more complex healthcare needs.
This problem is compounded by the fact that people are living longer. According to The State of the States in Developmental Disabilities: 2005, in 2004, approximately 2.8 million of the 4.6 million with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities in the U.S. were receiving support from family caregivers. The lifespan of persons with developmental disabilities in the 1970s was approximately 56 yrs, and in 1993 the lifespan was 66 years. Now, it is expected that, with the exception of those with the most severe disabilities, "those with developmental disabilities will have a lifespan typical of that of the general population. The increased lifespan has accounted for an estimated 10-20% increase in demand for residential services in the past 3 decades alone." Emerging residential technologies that will be utilized at the SmartHome can address projected demand for long-term care services and reduce the need for tens of thousands of additional staff.
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Information |
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Caregivers need more information.
This increase in the complexity of healthcare leads to an increase in a caregiver’s need for up-to-date, accurate and relevant information about the people they serve. This can create a huge burden on a caregiver’s time. The SmartHome will automate many of these tasks, providing caregivers with more time to do what they do best: take care of people.
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Cost |
Healthcare is costly. In 2006, Americans spent $2.2 trillion on healthcare, 50% more than any country. Currently, 40% of the United States budget is spent on Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, and that number is expected to rise to 74% by 2030. Finding ways to provide improved healthcare services while simultaneously improving cost efficiency is imperative, and Imagine! is leading the way with the creation of its SmartHome.
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Technology |
Healthcare IT is critical.
It is estimated that 98,000 people die due to hospital errors each year. Imagine!’s SmartHome will use technology to improve the quality and effectiveness of services and simplify and increase medical surveillance to reduce medical errors.
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Nursing Shortage |
The U.S. is facing a nursing shortage. he United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. Compounding the problem is the fact that nursing colleges and universities across the country are struggling to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand for nursing care. In April 2006, officials with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released projections that the nation's nursing shortage would grow to more than one million nurses by the year 2020. In the report titled What is Behind HRSA's Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortage of Registered Nurses?, analysts show that all 50 states will experience a shortage of nurses to varying degrees by the year 2015. A shortage of qualified nurses means that organizations need to find ways to increase efficiencies in they way they deliver care, and a project such as the SmartHome offers a model on how to do so.
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Wellness |
Wellness promotion.
Imagine!’s SmartHome is not only designed to provide improved healthcare, it is designed to increase the wellness of consumers. Imagine! focuses on providing its consumers with the skills and tools they need to become active, contributing members of their communities. Wellness programs that promote and support both the physical and emotional health and wellbeing of our consumers will be easier to create and implement by using the technology available at the SmartHome. Technology can also monitor and support persons with developmental disabilities in recreational and other activities of daily living.
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