Senior Living Communities Help Residents Be “Home” for the Holidays
Milwaukee, WI (PRWEB) January 02, 2014 -- For thousands of families with a loved one living in a senior community, the holiday season proves to be an especially tough time of year. More often than not, they find themselves wishing they could be together but busy schedules and expensive travel can make it difficult and in some cases impossible. Some forward thinking senior living communities were ready for the challenge this holiday season by providing their residents and families with a way to be together using a new video conferencing solution called EasyConnect HD.
These “virtual visits” allow the residents to visit face-to-face with their families and be a part of the holiday gathering, no matter where that may be. For Kirby Pines Retirement Community in Memphis Tennessee, an easy-to-use video conferencing solution was something they had been searching for. “We know how much our residents would like to visit with their loved ones, especially around the holiday season. It’s exciting that we can provide these virtual visits for residents of Kirby Pines and connect with their families,” said the community’s Executive Director Michael Escamilla.
EasyConnect HD combines a high definition video conferencing system with friendly support to make it a hassle free experience. The system at the senior community features a large high definition screen and is operated with a simple remote control, making it easy for senior residents to use with no technical experience or equipment of their own. For the holiday season, that big screen experience can help make residents feel more involved in opening gifts together or meeting the newest addition to the family.
One family member named Susan McInnis was able to connect with her sister who lives at Kirby Pines on Christmas Day. “The fact that we could all visit with my Sister in Memphis even though we were hundreds of miles away in Texas was truly amazing. It made our Christmas Day complete! We are so appreciative that Kirby Pines has this available for us to visit whenever we want.”
In addition to the systems that are placed at the senior communities, the video conferencing solution also provides the support to get family members set up, and eliminates the technical hurdles. “My husband and I had never done a video chat before, so to have everything set up for us was really helpful,” said Susan McInnis.
The EasyConnect HD video conferencing solution is now up and running in a variety of senior community environments, from skilled nursing facilities and assisted living to retirement villages. The startup is the only company focused on bringing the power of video conferencing to senior communities and is actively working with industry professionals to expand the possibilities to help deliver a better quality of life for seniors and their families. A few communities are even piloting a “virtual field trip” program so residents can interact face-to-face with interesting experts like park rangers and museum directors all over the world, through the video conferencing technology.
EasyConnect HD is a solution from BrightLife Innovations, a Milwaukee Wisconsin based company focused on revolutionizing senior living and senior care.
Josh Silldorff, BrightLife Innovations, http://www.easyconnecthd.com, 262-470-5222, [email protected]
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