LONG-TERM CARE NEWS
Winners
of the AGE-WELL National Impact Challenge By Annie Webb and Margaret Polanyi he need has never been greater for technologies and services that benefit older Canadians and their caregivers – so it’s no surprise that the 2020 AGE-WELL National Impact Challenge attracted a lot of attention. The national competition recognizes top start-ups and supports entrepreneurship in Canada’s technology and aging sector. Finalists are challenged to explain how their technology-based solution can positively impact seniors or their caregivers. The first two competitions in the three-part series played out virtually in June and July, with five finalists competing at each event for $20,000 in cash, as well as in-kind prizes. And the winners are…
T
ABLE INNOVATIONS
Able Innovations won the Toronto regional competition, held on July 9, for its “effortless” automated patient-transfer technology. Founder and CEO Jayiesh Singh told the judges that the DELTA Platform allows a single caregiver to transfer a person in a safe and dignified manner. “Our device is mobile, compact and easy to use,” says Singh, who first encountered the challenges around patient transfer while volunteering in long-term care homes in his youth. “Current methods of transfer require two or more caregivers in a process that is time-consuming and physically demanding. It can also lead to transfer-related injuries, both for staff and patients,” adds Singh. Able Innovations’ smart technology uses compact platforms to safely roll underneath individuals being transferred. An AGE-WELL-supported
34 HOSPITAL NEWS AUGUST 2020
Michael Cullen (left) of Novalte and Alex Roberts (right) of eNable Analytics. The two companies tied for first-place in the Atlantic Canada competition.
THE NATIONAL COMPETITION RECOGNIZES TOP START-UPS AND SUPPORTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CANADA’S TECHNOLOGY AND AGING SECTOR. study done with Bruyère Research Institute and Carleton University has helped to perfect the system and demonstrate its safety and efficacy. “Right now, we’re focusing on lateral supine transfers, so people who are lying down can be transferred to another surface where they are lying down. It could be bed to bed, or bed to stretcher, or a stretcher to an imaging table,” explains Singh. Single caregiver, contactless transfers will not only protect staff and patients from injuries, but also curb the spread of infections in health-care facilities and free staff from labour-intensive patient transfers, says Singh. Able Innovations plans to use the $20,000 prize money to help deliver full-scale prototype devices to hospitals who want to test them by the end of 2020. The company is also looking to secure pilot facilities and
has recently opened a seed round of financing to accelerate their path to commercialization. Able is aiming to commercialize the DELTA Platform by mid-2021, with a home version to follow. “The demand for products such as ours is only going to grow due to what’s happening with COVID-19, our aging population and the compounding effect of nursing shortages,” says Singh.
NOVALTE
Novalte tied with eNable Analytics for first-place in the Atlantic Canada competition, held on June 18. Novalte is a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based smart tech solution company whose goal is to help people with mobility challenges easily control their daily living environment. Technology and smart devices have enormous potential to help old-
er adults with mobility challenges live a more independent life and reduce pressures on caregivers. However, not all technology is intuitive to use or even fix when it stops working. Michael Cullen, founder and CTO of Novalte, has developed an elegant solution to this problem by launching the world’s first fully-integrated daily living platform. Novalte deploys smart technology to people with mobility challenges but removes the complexity, so that they can easily take control of their environment and break barriers to living independently. The system, called Emitto, is already deployed on the market to organizations that support individuals with mobility challenges. Users can easily turn on/off their TV, lights or fans, change TV channels, control temperature, open doors, adjust their hospital beds and more via voice or a switch for users who cannot speak. The service also connects them with their loved ones, anywhere in the world, via smart screens – something that’s even more of a priority now with COVID-19 and social isolation. “The best way to describe it would be a super smart home system that can be used in a care environment, facility or at home,” explains Cullen. Novalte also takes care of training the individual and any technical issues so that the user can control their environment without the help of staff or nurses. “For most of my clients, their only problem is interfacing with the world. The world was designed for able-bodied people,” says Cullen. “We just needed that bridge to make the real-world work for them using the best method for the individual – and everybody is different. So, we needed a tool
www.hospitalnews.com