High-tech nursing homes could be on the horizon. Sunny Hill Nursing Home in
Illinois is now demonstrating the result of the $37,000 2009 Innovation Grant
awarded by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Nursing home residents now
have a 24-hour in-house television channel that, among other things, lets
residents know what the day's activities and meal offerings are, and wi-fi
access throughout the building.
Sunny Hill assistant administrator, Becky Haldorson, applied for the state grant
for the home's Technological Communication Improvement Program. The program
updates the technology needs of the residents in terms of internet access in
in-house Channel 25.
Channel 25's offerings are produced through a contract with Touchtown, based in
Pennsylvania. Haldorson reported that the web-based program allows admins to
sign in to the account and add slides and videos that can be run on a cycle.
Slides may include any information related to nursing home life, including staff
and resident anniversaries and birthdays, daily menus, slide shows of facility
events, and videos.
?We?ve had to learn a lot (about the program). We haven?t even touched some of
what it can do.? Haldorson said, adding that one of its benefits is: ?I can work
on it from anywhere.?
One of the residents' favorite features of Channel 25 is the music.
Administrator Karen Sorbero selected more than 200 songs that play in the
background. ?There?s religious music, there?s Motown ? you name it, it?s on
there,? Haldorson said. The playlist is so enjoyable that some residents leave
their televisions on just to listen to the background music.
The grant also paid for a cost-saving solution to the changing way that people
stay in touch with friends and families: wireless internet. ?Residents are
bringing more computers in? Haldorson explained. The obstacle was the age of the
county-owned building that Sunny Hill Nursing Home resides in. The high cost of
rewiring the building to accommodate residents? Internet needs was prohibitive
without the funds provided by this grant. ?Wi-fi was the way to go,? Haldorson
said.
In addition to wi-fi instillation throughout the building, there was enough
money left over in the grant to purchase three laptops for residents to use with
staff members in the computer lab in The Dugout, a community area. The facility
has also begun to receive donations of used laptops for seniors? use.
This has also benefited staff members, as well. ?I?ve got nurses using the wi-fi
to pull up information on their phones about medications while they?re on the
floor,? said Haldorson.
While it?s handy for staff and residents with laptops in their rooms, many
seniors with only communal access to the internet like the new service, saying
it is more responsive to their wants than when they relied on the county
internet system and its restrictions.
Halderson said, ?Residents like the wi-fi better because they couldn?t play the
games they wanted on the county system.?