Press Release

Linked Senior, Responsive Management, Western Oregon University advance the Resident Engagement Field in Partnership with Baycrest-led Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI)

WASHINGTON DC, October 18th, 2018: – Linked Senior (www.linkedsenior.com), the leading resident engagement platform for the senior care market, announced today preliminary results of a clinical study funded by the Baycrest-led Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) in partnership with Responsive Health Management and Western Oregon University.

Since September 2017, Responsive Health Management (RHM) in Toronto has been working with Linked Senior using generous funding from CABHI to test and validate the Linked Senior platform in a real-world setting.

The research study is using a quasi-experimental repeated-measures design. Resident engagement in recreational activity and several clinical outcomes are being monitored at three different RHM sites. Marion Godoy and Abiola Awosanya of RHM have led the study at the trial sites over the past year. Participants were selected from residents at RHM’s Cedarvale Terrace Long-Term Care Home, Vermont Square Home and O’Neill Centre. Each site has therapeutic recreational therapists on staff and are caring for mid- to high-level dementia residents. All staff have been GPA and P.I.E.C.E.S. trained.

Initial analysis of the preliminary research findings from the past year is being conducted by Ethan McMahan and Dr. Rob Winningham of Western Oregon University to determine if residents using Linked Senior have better clinical outcomes than those who do not and more broadly, how using therapeutic engagement can improve clinical and financial indicators.

Residents from the three RHM long-term care and memory care communities were grouped as (1) Low-Engagement Residents versus (2) High-Engagement Residents. When comparing the two groups, being in the high-engagement group was associated with:

• 20% decrease in antipsychotic medication use
• 18% decrease in aggressive behaviors
• 20% increase in social engagement
• 3% increase in cognitive functioning

In other words, being highly engaged in recreational activity is associated with increased cognitive functioning and social engagement, as well as decreased aggression and antipsychotic medication use. The data is based on a total sample size of n = 185 residents (Low Engagement n = 75, High Engagement n = 110).

“Participating in this study is one of the many ways Responsive has been showing its dedication to person-centered care, the field of therapeutic recreation and our passion for improving the lives of our residents, which aligns with our trademark: Making Every Moment Matter,” shares Marion Godoy, Senior Nurse Consultant at Responsive Health Management.

“The Linked Senior platform has provided the team with a tool that can be used daily to further engage residents. Observing residents utilizing Linked Senior independently is in itself a success as we are able to see that the content is relevant to the interests of those who live in our home community,” says Abiola Awosanya, Programs Manager at Cedarvale Terrace Long-Term Care Home.

“We could not be more excited about these results,” shares Charles de Vilmorin, Linked Senior Co-founder and CEO, “Not only does it further validate the ROI from investing in person-centered resident engagement therefore supporting the resident engagement field but it also shows how our industry can improve the resident experience and quality of life by optimizing engagement opportunities.”

The company plans on analyzing the data further to advance its communication strategy, build more advanced products and contribute to the research associated with aging and dementia.

“These results begin to fill the void of research on the benefits of non-pharmacologic interventions for our senior care residents. Utilizing this technology which includes individualized patient-centered approaches demonstrates positive effects on behavior and quality of life; while helping us understand the correlation between better engagement, clinical and financial outcomes.” – Dr. Susan Levy, Linked Senior Chief Medical Officer.

 

About Responsive Group

The Responsive Group is a privately-owned business, consisting of four business units. Together, the units provide a comprehensive portfolio of services that includes management of retirement communities and long-term care homes as well as consulting, mentoring and restructuring services. Responsive currently operates 14 long-term care homes and 18 retirement communities in Ontario, which in turn provide services for more than 2,300 long-term care beds and over 1,000 retirement suite. More information can be found here: https://responsivegroup.ca/

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About Linked Senior

Headquartered in Washington D.C., Linked Senior Inc. is the leading resident engagement platform for the senior care market. Its cloud based solution improves the quality of life or residents, empowers front line staff with evidence based program while improving the bottom line of providers with better care, better satisfaction and increased family engagement. More information can be found here: www.linkedsenior.com

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About the Baycrest-led Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI)

CABHI is an innovation accelerator for the aging and brain health sector, providing funding and support to innovators for the development, testing, and dissemination of new ideas and technologies that address unmet brain health and seniors’ care needs. Established in 2015, it is the result of the largest investment in brain health and aging in Canadian history. CABHI is a unique collaboration of health care, science, industry, not-for-profit and government partners whose aim is to help improve quality of life for the world’s aging population, allowing older adults to age safely in the setting of their choice while maintaining their cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. For more information on CABHI, please visit: www.cabhi.com.

About Baycrest
Now in its 100^th year, Baycrest is a global leader in geriatric residential living, healthcare, research, innovation and education, with a special focus on brain health and aging. Fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, Baycrest provides excellent care for older adults combined with an extensive clinical training program for the next generation of healthcare professionals and one of the world’s top research institutes in cognitive neuroscience, the Rotman Research Institute. Baycrest is home to the federally and provincially-funded Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation, a solution accelerator focused on driving innovation in the aging and brain health sector, and is the developer of Cogniciti — a free, online brain health assessment for Canadians 40+ who are concerned about their memory. Through its dedicated centres, Baycrest Health Sciences offers unmatched global knowledge exchange and commercialization capacity. Founded in 1918 as the Toronto Jewish Old Folks Home, Baycrest continues to embrace the long-standing tradition of all great Jewish healthcare institutions to improve the well-being of people in their local communities and around the globe. For more information please visit: www.baycrest.org.