Someone to watch over me

BOCA RATON, Fla.--ADT Security added another service to its repertoire in March as it rolled out its QuietCare service to target the growing senior segment in the consumer market. The service--a monitoring system that tracks the movement of a senior in a living environment and detects abnormal behavior via patented proprietary software--was offered to hospital, hospices, assisted living facilities and independent living facilities for more than one year. And according to Scott Gurley, group director with ADT, the first roll out of the product was positive in institutional settings. "Now we are just taking it to the consumer market," Gurley said. "We have had some good successes in the beginning and are anticipating a rosy future." Part of the reason ADT, the exclusive licensed provider of the service, is banking on a successful roll out is because it has tapped into a unique niche in the market with an age demographic--the geriatric generation--that is the fastest growing segment of the United States population. "It's truly a revolutionary product," Gurley said. "There is a big movement to keep people in their homes longer on several fronts. This is a part of this effort." The service requires ADT to install five motion detectors inside a residence in areas that can easily detect a daily behavior pattern, such as a bedroom door, a medicine cabinet and a bathroom, "We don't ask that seniors do anything different than they normally do," Gurley said. "We measure the activities of daily living." If the system notices activities have changed within the home, such as an individual not getting out of bed at a normal time, an alert is sent to caregivers via an e-mail, text message or phone call, and also notifies the ADT monitoring station. If a caregiver does not respond to an alert and ADT cannot get in touch with the resident, ADT will dispatch emergency medical services. Caregivers also have the option of checking the status of a residence via a password protected web site. Installation and activation for the service costs $199 and ADT charges a $79.95 monthly monitoring fee. The QuietCare Plus service, which adds emergency pendants, costs $299 for activation and $89.95 for monitoring. But, according to Gurley, that cost pales in comparison to the costs associated with a full-time caregiver. "A visiting nurse or a home care employee is a minimum of $18 per hour," Gurley said. "And assisted living facilities start at $159 per day." Gurley said all operators who monitor the service are specially trained, as are the branch sales representatives marketing it. ADT authorized dealers will also be able to offer the service this month. "Dealers will have to go through their own specific certification and before they can offer the product," Gurley said. The company's target market is 45- to 65-year-old caregivers. Gurley said full-time caregivers spend an average of 18 hours per week looking after a family member on top of regular job, personal and family responsibilities. "It is designed to add peace of mind," Gurley said. "We are not trying to replace the caregiver, but when they wake up in the morning and can access a web site to see that everything is okay with their parent, the feeling is indescribable."