U of MN receives $1 million technology grant to expand assisted living services for the elderly - Eurek Alert - 3 Nov 2003

By ASHLEY BURT

Grant will address lack of affordable health care services through telemedicine

Elderly people living in some of the poorest regions of the state will have improved access
to health care services due to a $1 million grant the University of Minnesota received from
the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Virtual Assisted Living Umbrella for the Elderly
(VALUE) telemedicine program will combine videoconferencing technology, Internet
access, and home monitoring devices to provide assisted living services to frail elderly
persons living independently in their home communities. These individuals will be able to
retain the benefits of remaining at home, in familiar neighborhood surroundings, while
having access to needed resources. The impact of the VALUE program in supporting
participants ability to remain in an independent living situation will be studied.

"The growing demand for assisted living services, an aging but increasingly independent
population, and shortages of professional health care workers are converging to limit
access to affordable assisted living services," says Stanley Finkelstein, PhD., professor of
laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Minnesota's Medical School. "We
have an opportunity to use these technologies to bring health services directly into the
homes of elderly people who otherwise would not have access to such services."
Finkelstein and Stuart Speedie, Ph.D., also a professor of laboratory medicine and
pathology, are principal investigators for this study.

VALUE will include two clinical partners that serve both urban and rural Minnesota.
Volunteers of America of Minnesota serves some of the poorest neighborhoods in
Minneapolis; TriCounty Hospital in Wadena serves three of the poorest rural counties in
the state. Both partners are in areas with an increasing elderly population and limited
numbers of affordable assisted living facilities. The partners will install central monitoring
sites, train staff, recruit subjects, install VALUE units in the elderly subject's homes, train
subjects, and conduct videoconference visits. The University of Minnesota will direct the
study and evaluate the program through a randomized trial.

VALUE is supported by a grant from the Department of Commerce's Technology
Opportunities Program (TOP), and matching funds from industry partners NONIN Medical,
Inc., and QRS Diagnostic, LLC and from clinical partners Volunteers of America-Minnesota
and Tri-County Hospital. TOP promotes the widespread availability and use of digital
network technologies in the public and non-profit sectors. TOP awards grants for model
projects demonstrating innovative uses of network technologies. The organization then
shares the lessons learned from theses projects to ensure the benefits are broadly
distributed across the country, especially in rural and underserved communities.