CareBank

The CareBank empowers people with technology to participate in the Care Sharing Economy, with new tools to improve medication adherence and strengthen social connections, to help save lives and money. Our CareBank Mobile App puts the power of Peer Care in the palms of our hands. It integrates TeleCare IoT sensors with an online TimeBank to reward people for mutual medication and safety monitoring from the comfort of their own homes.

Medical Alert Buttons only summon help if the button is pushed. The CareBank’s Peer Care monitoring and first response system summons help when NOTHING happens – when a member of the Peer Group stops eating or taking their meds on schedule. Then the CareBank automatically sends alerts to fellow Group members, enables quick-response communication with the member at risk, and credits the first responder’s TimeBank account for taking good care to resolve the problem before it escalates to a crisis.

The CareBank implements several distinct goals of the 2016 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Report about Independence, Technology, and Connection in Older Age, including: “Remote monitoring, wearables, and sensors can help seniors age-in-place while ensuring their safety and maintaining their health. …Online ‘time banks’ can allow seniors to donate services now in order to access help from others when they need it.”

The CareBank App’s Main Screen graphically presents the Peer Group as a CareWheel: a hub-and-spokes social care network. Each participant appears at the center of their CareWheel, surrounded by their fellow Peer Group members, such that all participants see themselves at the hub of their CareWheel in their CareBank App. If the TeleCare sensors detect anomalies in patterns of important daily activities, such as missed medications or meals, the background color surrounding that member’s image will change to indicate an appropriate yellow or red alert status. Tapping the member’s photo on the Main Screen invokes the TeleCare Status Screen, which reveals the member’s status and cause of the alert. Tapping the Call Button dials the member’s phone, providing a quick way to check if they are okay. If they just forgot to take their meds, the call will provide a necessary reminder. Failure to answer the phone suggests the possibility of a more serious problem requiring a personal visit or intervention to check if they have fallen, become ill or been incapacitated.

Positive behaviors are encouraged with behavioral economic incentives provided by the TimeBank. While members are actively engaged in monitoring and responding, their TimeBank accounts are automatically credited for the time they contribute, eliminating the effort to manually record their services. Accumulated credits may then be exchanged, as in a conventional TimeBank, for a variety of additional peer-support services to help sustain independence, such as transportation, errands and household repairs. This “elders as assets” CareBank innovation incentivizes people to “pay it forward” while banking their data and goodwill to meet the growing needs of our aging society. The CareBank is a practical solution to help resolve the growing caregiver shortage crisis at its source, using IoT and connective technologies to empower elders with new tools to live healthier, more independent and meaningful lives.

Please note: In order to use the CareBank App, you must first complete a separate account registration with CareWheels to obtain the required login credentials to access the CareBank Server via this CareBank App. Please contact CareWheels, a §501(c)(3) non-profit Corporation, for information about CareBank registration. http://carewheels.org/contact