Caring for Elderly Parents? There’s an App for That

These days we rely on hand held devices to manage almost every aspect of our daily lives. Alarm clocks? Forget it. We wake up to the beeping of our phones. Maps? Gone. Siri can direct us anywhere we need to go. Whether we’re communicating with our loved ones, reading the daily news, or updating slides for our next meeting, we’re often doing it with the help of a mobile device.

Caring for our elders shouldn’t be any different. For this reason, researchers from Hebrew SeniorLife teamed up with affiliates from Harvard Medical School and several other organizations to create a senior care coordination app called InfoSAGE.

We caught up with Dr. Lew Lipsitz, Director of Hebrew SeniorLife’s Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research to discuss the program, and the many ways that it can aid families and caretakers.

Q: What organizations were involved in the creation of the program?

Dr. Lew Lipsitz: InfoSAGE is a collaborative project that came together with the help of Hebrew SeniorLife, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Lasell Village and Cambridge Health Alliance, and is supported by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Q: What challenges were families facing that led to the need for a program like InfoSAGE?

Dr. Lew Lipsitz: Today’s families are incredibly busy. In many ways, modern technology has allowed for families to be constantly on the go, but still remain organized and connected. However, when it comes to caring for an elder, there seemed to be a deficit. Many families split the care of elders amongst several family members, friends and paid providers. Until now, there has been no easy way to coordinate care and keep everyone on the same page. What we heard from families is that they needed a single convenient tool to keep all members of the care team organized and informed.

Q: How does InfoSAGE connect family members, clinicians and seniors?

Dr. Lew Lipsitz: InfoSAGE is a simple app that everyone on the care team can download. It’s one central place where information on appointments, medications and all other care concerns can be located and updated. This way everyone has access to the same up-to-date information at all times. This empowers all members of the care team to make speedy, informed decisions when needed, and to communicate those decisions to all others involved in the elder’s care.

Q: What features does the InfoSAGE program provide?

Dr. Lew Lipsitz: InfoSAGE includes many features that help families stay organized. These include:

• Medication Manager – a list of medications, descriptions and dosage information that can be accessed and updated by all users
• Shared Task List – a place where families can request and share information about appointments, errands and to-do’s, and also delegate responsibilities
• Search Function – a search tool which connects users to health resources and information specifically geared towards seniors and caregivers

Q: In some families, the senior being cared for is not comfortable using technology. Is InfoSAGE the right choice for those families?

Dr. Lew Lipsitz: Yes. The elder at the center of care, whom we call the “keystone,” does not have to engage with the app if they choose not to. If the “keystone” wishes to download the app and take an active role in the coordination of their care, they certainly can and we encourage that. However, if they are not comfortable with technology, the program still functions just as effectively.

Q: What does it cost to use InfoSAGE, and is it secure?

Dr. Lew Lipsitz: The InfoSAGE website and apps are free for anyone to use and download. The program allows for different levels of users, to ensure privacy for the keystone at the center of care. Certain member of the care team can be marked as “caregivers” giving them access to more sensitive information, while others can be marked as “participants” which allows for access only to necessary information. In addition, all information gathered by InfoSAGE for research purposes is de-identified.

Q: How can people sign up for an InfoSAGE account?

Dr. Lew Lipsitz: To sign up, please visit the InfoSAGE website (www.infosagehealth.org) where you can first register and then download the program to your smart phone or tablet.

Q: How can someone get involved in research regarding the InfoSAGE program?

Dr. Lew Lipsitz: We are always striving to make InfoSAGE even more useful for families and caregivers. To do so, we encourage users to participate in our research study. Participating is very easy. When signing up and creating an account simply click to “learn more.”