CAST has released a new portfolio of tools designed to help organizations select functional assessment and activity monitoring technology. Please take a few minutes to complete this quick survey about the portfolio before Jan. 17, 2016. 

Functional assessment technologies capture and analyze a person’s general behavior and ability to interact with the world. These technologies can help caregivers determine an individual’s changing needs and intervene early before a health crisis occurs. 

Functional decline and impairment contribute significantly to health care spending, particularly among people with chronic conditions. Yet, assessing functional decline can be challenging because decline is usually gradual and subtle. 

Products designed to provide early detection and facilitate targeted interventions for functional decline and impairment can yield long-term savings. 

“Functional assessment and activity monitoring technologies help providers become proactive in identifying clients’ needs, deliver services accordingly, and support and even prolong independence” said CAST Executive Director Majd Alwan in a statement. “This tool allows members to select the solutions that best fit their setting, requirements, and their clients’ needs and preferences.”

Components of the CAST Portfolio 

The technologies featured in the new CAST portfolio range from sensors embedded in the fixed environment and in objects, to wearable or personal devices. The technologies vary widely in the way the monitored individual interacts with them.

The portfolio of tools includes: 

• A whitepaper that helps organizations understand the range of issues surrounding functional assessment and activity monitoring technology. The whitepaper outlines technology solutions available in the marketplace, as well as their uses and benefits.

• A Product Selection Matrix and Online Selection Tool. The matrix compares 17 different products from 15 vendors. The easy-to-use online selection tool helps providers identify the appropriate functional assessment and activity monitoring technology products that fit their care settings and offer their “must-have” features. Check out the participating vendors.

• A case study that provides a real-life example of how Terraces of Los Gatos, a LeadingAge member in Los Gatos, CA, improved efficiency and reduced pressure ulcers and falls through functional assessment technology. 

Development of Future Tools

In early 2016, CAST plans to update this portfolio. CAST would also like to launch a new portfolio of tools focusing on Shared Care Planning and Care Coordination Technologies. Please review the components of the Functional Assessment portfolio, including the whitepaper, online selection tool, selection matrix and case study. Then, take a few minutes to complete this quick survey on the portfolio before Jan. 17.

Your input through the feedback survey will help CAST make this tool better. It also gives you the opportunity to tell CAST what tools you’d like it to develop in the future. 

To participate in the development of future CAST portfolios, please contact Scott Code, aging services technology manager, at scode@leadingage.org, 202-508-9466.