New Year’s Stats

As another year closes, here are some statistics that demonstrate how Imagine!’s SmartHomes and SmartSupports continue to be viewed as the future of service delivery for some of our most vulnerable citizens: almost 200 people toured our SmartHomes, and SmartHome staff members gave 14 presentations across the country on how technology can be used to create more fulfilling lives for individuals with developmental disabilities. Here’s hoping 2013 will also be full of opportunities to spread the word and change lives for the better!

Dinner At The SmartHome

As we approach the year’s end, here’s a nice photo to remind us about the simple things that matter so much. In the photo, residents and staff members gather around the table for a meal, enjoying good conversation and great friendship.

Check Out The Latest SmartHome Newsletter

Imagine!’s latest SmartHome newsletter is available online. Check it out here.

Happy Holidays From The SmartHomes!

Happy Birthday, Loren!

Wishing the happiest of birthdays today to Charles Family SmartHome resident Loren. Make it a great one, Loren!

This Holiday Is So Raven

Imagine!'s volunteer program brings volunteer Ingrid and therapy dog Raven to the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome. You can see Raven spreading Christmas cheer as Rebecca enjoys putting her Christmas hat on Raven's head. Raven comes to the SmartHome every week and enjoys treats, hugs, and love. The residents like it too!

Presentable

Congratulations to SmartHome guru Greg Wellems, who spoke yesterday at a technology workshop sponsored by the National Academies Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Aging, Disability and Independence.

This was an incredibly prestigious gathering, and it was an honor to have Greg and our SmartHomes to be part of the discussion. Take a look at some of the members of the forum below. Heady company, indeed! Way to go, Greg!

ALAN M. JETTE, (Co-Chair), Boston University
JOHN W. ROWE, (Co-Chair), Columbia University
HENRY J. AARON, The Brookings Institution
JAMES APPLEBY, Gerontological Society of America
KELLY BUCKLAND, National Council on Independent Living 
JOE CALDWELL, National Council on Aging
MARGARET L. CAMPBELL, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
HENRY CLAYPOOL, Administration for Community Living
EILEEN M. CRIMMINS, University of Southern California
STEVEN DAWSON, Public Health Institute
PEGGYE DILWORTH-ANDERSON, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
THOMAS E. EDES, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
TERRY FULMER, Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University
NAOMI L. GERBER, Center for the Study of Chronic Illness & Disease, George Mason University
ROBERT HORNYAK, Administration for Community Living
LISA IEZZONI, Harvard Medical School
KATHY KREPCIO, John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
NANCY LUNDEBJERG, American Geriatrics Society
RHONDA MEDOWS, United HealthCare 
LARRY MINNIX, LeadingAge 
ARI NE’EMAN, National Council on Disability
RENE SEIDEL, The SCAN Foundation
JACK W. SMITH, U.S. Department of Defense
TERRIE FOX WETLE, Brown University

Dasha’s Light

The projects created by CU Engineering students this year weren’t just limited to SmartHome residents. Check out this photo of some of the students with Dasha, who receives services from Imagine!. Dasha is showing off her new touch pad light controller, which not only allows her to turn the light on and off, but change light colors and brightness levels. A great step forward for Dasha in terms of being in control of her own environment.

Gerald’s New Communication Device

CU Engineering students pose below with a device they created for Gerald, one of our SmartHome residents. The project is a simple visual communication device. It is an interchangeable laminated picture holder that lights up with a push button controlled by Gerald. The light moves around, and starts and stops as the button is pushed. This is a simple and inexpensive way that Gerald can communicate with others – a great way to increase his communication options, which include his more complex (and costly) computerized communication device.

Batter Up!

Here’s another super-cool project created by CU Engineering students for one of our SmartHome residents. This “switch-activated Wiffle bat swinger” is just what it sounds (and looks) like – giving Toby, who lives in the Charles Family SmartHome, the chance to swing his own Wiffle bat. What a nice, simple way to participate in a fun activity and to start to get used to using technology to control his own environment. Batter up, Toby!

Disco Inferno At The SmartHomes

Check out this picture of Shelly, who lives in the Charles Family SmartHome, with a group of CU Engineering students who created a “Switch Activated Party Ball” for her. The disco ball is connected to a simple switch that Shelly can control, turning the ball on and off. Not only is this another step in providing Shelly with tools that help her control her own environment and teaching her how to use them, it is also super cool and fun! 70s party at the SmartHome soon, Shelly?

To learn more about the CU Engineering projects, click here.

Wes and Shelly At The Movies

Late last month, Shelly and Wes, who live in the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont, went to see the movie “Breaking Dawn Part II” with their friend Paul. Big move displays make great backgrounds for photos, so check out these two cool pics!

Happy Birthday, Lana!

Wishing the happiest of birthdays to Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Lana. Hope you have a great day, Lana!

Lana’s Christmas Ornament

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Lana made a lovely Christmas tree ornament at her church over the weekend. Nice work, Lana!

Anthony and Toby at Sports Authority Field

Last Friday, Charles Family SmartHome residents Anthony and Toby took a tour of Sports Authority Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos! Anthony and Toby are huge fans, and they had a great time.

The only disappointment they expressed? That they didn’t get to meet any of the cheerleaders. Maybe next time, guys!

Rebecca’s Jewelry Class

Here’s a nice photo of Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Rebecca showing her latest creation from her jewelry class. The class is part of Boulder’s EXPAND Program, which helps people who have disabilities improve and gain new recreation and leisure skills that enhance their overall well being and their quality of life.

The jewelry class is one of Rebecca’s favorite activities, and she’s been making jewelry at home as well as in the class. Nice work, Rebecca!

A New Volunteer For Donna And Gerald

In a recent post on the Imagine! Voices blog, Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Donna shared the exciting news about a new volunteer she is going to be spending time with, a volunteer who just happens to be the younger brother of one of her good friends.

Here’s what she had to say:

Boy, do I have some exciting news. My friend Chloe, who used to volunteer and hang out with me almost every week for more than three years before she went away to college, has a younger brother who is going to start working (volunteering) with us. Hearing that made me so happy. His name is Ben. It is so cool that he will be spending time with us, and hopefully I’ll get to see Chloe more often when she's home from college too.

I was all excited when Chloe came over recently and said that her brother Ben wants to spend time with me and Gerald. I will keep you posted about this. Bye bye.

Happy Birthday, Toby!

Wishing the happiest of birthdays today to Charles Family SmartHome resident Toby. Make it a great one, Toby!

Today Is Colorado Gives Day!

Today is Colorado Gives Day, and Imagine! is participating.

Donations made online through our website today at any of the “Donate Here” buttons will be eligible for partial matching funds. (The “Donate Here” button takes you directly to the Community First Foundation site and saves all bank fees for credit card donations.) 

If you are thinking about making a gift to Imagine! before the end of the calendar year, please consider doing it online through our website today! You may also designate a particular Imagine! program (like our SmartHomes) in the “Any comments or special instructions” box if you would like. The only gifts that are ineligible are donations for which you receive something in return, such as tickets or sponsorships to our Imagine! Celebration.

Give where you live!

Guess Who’s Touring The SmartHomes?

Scheduled to tour Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome today: Denise Crandall from Denver-based Marycrest Assisted Living. Denise is bringing ten Americorps volunteers with her. Enjoy the tour!

Happy Birthday, John!

Wishing the happiest of birthdays to Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident John. Make it a great one, John!

Gerald and Donna’s Thanksgiving

This blog post was provided to us in person by Donna and Gerald at their home, the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder.

We had a really nice Thanksgiving. Some friends from church invited us over to their house. They even rented a wheel chair ramp so we could easily get into their house with our wheelchairs. (apparently U-Haul rents ramps for a very affordable price).

For dinner we had turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes (one of Gerald’s favorite foods), and pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

It was fun to have a few little kids there. They add to the excitement with all the energy they have. You have to ask yourself, “Where do they get all that energy?” They can run around until they’re totally exhausted. Then they eventually tend to get tired and a little cranky, but that's how it goes.

The kids sure got a kick out of our wheelchairs. They thought it was like having a car in the house, and I guess they're right. They get us from point A to point B, just like a car does.

When we got home, we talked to mom (Gerald’s mom), and she's doing pretty well. We found out that Gerald’s sister has moved to Texas. She gets around. She lived in Alaska for a while too.

Well, we’ll be putting up some Christmas decorations this weekend at our house, so that will make for a good time. Bye bye for now.

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHomes?

Scheduled to tour the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder tomorrow: Nancy Jelen, a Professor at Wisconsin’s Alverno College.

Here’s what Professor Jelen had to say about why she wanted to tour the SmartHome:

“As a professor who prepares general education teachers and special education teachers, I am focusing my research on innovations in the field of special education. Understanding the potential for innovations that support independence is a critical element for our teachers. I feel that even though they may not be the innovators, their openness to possibilities is key in assisting all students to be independent. Imagine!’s innovative practice is what I would like to expose to my students.”

Thanks for touring, Professor Jelen!

Check Out The Latest SmartHomes Newsletter

Imagine!’s latest SmartHomes newsletter is available online.

Check it out. 

Rebecca’s Thanksgiving

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Rebecca made a post on the Imagine! Voices blog about how she spent Thanksgiving – and included a great picture of a cool Thanksgiving decoration.

Check it out here.

Moving Technology Out Of Our SmartHomes (Part VII)

Imagine!’s use of technology is not limited to our SmartHomes.

Case in point (Part VII):

Imagine!’s residential department, Innovations, uses CaraSolva’s MedSupport, a real-time online prompting system that schedules medications, treatments, vitals, exercises, tasks and calendar related events and relays them to the staff. Staff administers or enters an outcome for the event online, allowing management and nursing to supervise the workflow in the houses from their computer.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the staff and residents at the SmartHomes!

Moving Technology Out Of The SmartHomes (Part VI)

Imagine!’s use of technology is not limited to our SmartHomes. Case in point (Part VI):

Imagine!’s SmartSupports team is creating staff technology assessments to pinpoint which skills need to be developed among staff members, and creating customized trainings based on that data to ensure maximum benefit is achieved through technology use.

Moving Technology Out Of The SmartHomes (Part V)

Imagine!’s use of technology is not limited to our SmartHomes. Case in point (Part V):

Imagine!’s SmartSupports Team has developed a tool to evaluate client skill development and support needs when using assistive technology. This Systematic Skill Acquisition Process is currently being applied to Imagine! clients who use, or will use, technology, and will give more detailed information on skill development to assist clients in doing more for themselves through the benefits of assistive technology.

Moving Technology Out Of The SmartHomes (Part IV)

Imagine!’s use of technology is not limited to our SmartHomes. Case in point (Part IV):

Imagine! has teamed with SmartView to provide web-based orientation and regulation competency training for Imagine! employees, providers, and independent contractors. Courses contain components to meet Colorado’s Division for Developmental Disabilities training requirements. Using the SmartView online platform, Imagine! has developed courses that provide initial orientation for new caregivers as well as offer ongoing competency evaluation.

Moving Technology Out Of The SmartHomes (Part III)

Imagine!’s use of technology is not limited to our SmartHomes. Case in point (Part III): here’s a nice video showing an Imagine! CORE/Labor Source staff member teaching Kendra how to use a tablet task prompter to guide her through her work tasks.



Can’t see the video? Click here.

Kendra is currently serving an internship at Boulder Community Hospital, but like many of us, she sometimes struggles to stay focused on her responsibilities.

This is where technology comes in. Kendra has been equipped with a smart tablet containing software that provides task prompting for her job duties. When Kendra loses focus or is unsure of her next steps, the task prompter is right there to offer simple, step-by-step guidance through complex job activities.

Using the task prompting system has opened a new world of possibilities for Kendra. In years past, she would have required the constant attention of a job coach or a Direct Support Professional in order to maintain any kind of employment. The time and resources needed to support individuals with needs similar to Kendra’s would have likely been a barrier to her ever getting and keeping a job. Now, as she becomes more skilled at using her task prompter, she is becoming more independent and more capable of fulfilling her job responsibilities with a decreasing amount of supervision.

Moving Technology Out Of The SmartHomes (Part II)

One goal of Imagine!’s SmartHomes project is to move successful technologies and technology strategies (SmartSupports) into Imagine! residential care facilities, day programs, and family homes.

Here’s a great example:

Imagine! Family Support staff members providing early intervention services such as occupational therapy and speech therapy have incorporated iPad applications into their service delivery. Staff members are using apps to teach sign language, to improve communication skills, to teach cause and effect and object identification, and also to improve gross motor skills.

Moving Technology Out Of The SmartHomes

One goal of Imagine!’s SmartHomes project is to move successful technologies and technology strategies (SmartSupports) into Imagine! residential care facilities, day programs, and family homes.

Here’s a great example:

Imagine! Family Services team members are being equipped with iPads to quickly and easily fill out required forms, to access email and calendars remotely, for translation for Spanish-speaking families, to share resources, and to efficiently input key data using voice to text software.

Check out Donna’s Blog

Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Donna has been busy, but she finally got back to posting on her blog. Check out her latest post, where she talks about visiting the Denver Broncos’ stadium.

Charles Family SmartHome Residents Rock The Vote

Last week we showed some pictures of folks living in the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome exercising their right to vote. Today, here’s some pics of Charles Family SmartHome residents engaging in their civic duty. Well done, all!

Anthony was so excited about voting for his first time!



Anthony, Shelly, and Toby are proud voters!



Shelly's first time voting ever!!!!

The Next Generation of Service and Support Organizations

Imagine! CEO Mark Emery made a post on his blog earlier this week about the “next generation of service and support organizations.” It ties in so well with the goals of our SmartHomes, so we thought we’d share it with you today. Enjoy!

Last week I had the pleasure of hosting a roundtable discussion at the Twelfth Annual Coleman Institute National Conference, The State of the States in Cognitive Disability and Technology: 2012.

My topic for the roundtable was “The Next Generation of Service and Support Organizations.”

The discussion at the table was lively as we looked into the near future and the needed changes to services and supports in the field of serving individuals with one or more developmental disabilities. Below are some ideas, in no particular order, which came from the discussion.

The next generation of providers will adopt the use of emerging technology through organizational cultural shifts. Technical skills will override care giving in the description of the new support staff. A generation ago, we spent hours training caregivers how to manipulate a wheelchair and an accessible vehicle. Moving forward, navigating the variety of devices that are specific to the client of services support will take precedence. Providers and Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) will be team oriented and geographically dispersed. They will be connected with other team members and those they serve in real time via social and enterprise network tools. Future DSPs must be able to find a story in the data set and provide a coherent narrative about key data insight. DSPs must also be able to communicate with numbers, visually and verbally.

The next generation of providers will not strive for personal independence among the population it serves; rather, it will create an environment within which people will thrive. Providers will continue to undergo cultural shifts. We have moved from institutional settings to smaller institutional settings, to group homes, to host homes, to maintenance and support in the parents’ home. What happens next? I’m not entirely sure, but I know this – organizations need to be preparing now. For example, at Imagine!, we already have a Tech Architect and an Assistive Tech Specialist. Right now, those titles may sound exotic, but they will be standard positions for service organizations in the future.

Provider companies will be using cloud-based data, and lots of it, to inform company decisions. Company decision-makers will all be data savvy and include a person responsible for managing big data. This will further find its way to direct service and supports. We will collect and have access to huge amounts of real time mobile information that will inform very specific details about support touch points.

End-users of services and supports are no longer isolated. They are far savvier than their predecessors. They have a presence in the social media world. They are exercising their rights to an extent that was unthinkable only a few short years ago. Providers are no longer the decision-makers. Control has shifted, and rightly so. The idea that our goal is for people to be independent is old and ridiculous. Sure, people need touch points of support and service. The goal now is to thrive. The hermit life of independence, lonely self-sufficiency is not it. So let's stop pretending.

The discussion lasted an hour, which was unfortunate, because I felt we could have gone on much longer. I was really impressed by the deep thought and creative ideas that came from the roundtable participants.

I’d love to hear what my blog readers think, as well. Please leave a comment below.

Then again, what do I know?

Rebecca’s Birthday Dinner

This photo came to us via an email from Rebecca, and she told us over the phone that the picture was taken on her birthday at 3 Margaritas restaurant in Boulder, where she wanted to go for her birthday lunch. She said it was a very good birthday meal; burritos, rice, and beans.

Election Day At The SmartHome

The residents of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome were very excited about yesterday’s election.

John shows off his “I Voted” sticker.

Lana, Donna, and John were eager to learn who the next president would be.

Have You Voted Today?

Have you done your civic duty and voted yet? Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Lana has. Here she is with her mail in ballot, which is the voting method she chose. When Lana got her mail in ballot she was eager to fill it out and send it back. Thanks to Imagine!'s Innovations department for hosting two educational meetings Lana attended to learn about the topics and candidates running.

Vacancy In Charles Family SmartHome

Imagine!’s Innovations department currently has a vacancy in the Charles Family SmartHome.

Located in Longmont, the newly built Charles Family Home incorporates cutting edge technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of service and supports for adults with disabilities. The home focuses on enhancing the quality of life of residents, augmenting the effectiveness of staff as caregivers, and providing cost and energy savings. Through green and intuitive technology, the Charles Family SmartHome assists adults in building skills and more readily access their home and community environment. As the second such home in the nation, the Charles Family SmartHome serves as a model for the future of residential care for people with developmental disabilities.

To qualify, an individual must be receiving an HCBS-DD Comprehensive Waiver resource. For more information or to make a referral, contact Jodi Walters, Imagine! Innovations Director, at (303) 926-6464 or jwalters@imaginecolorado.org.

In The Middle Of It All

We are fortunate this week to be living right in the middle of the corridor where interested parties from around the United States and Canada will be learning about what will happen next in the field of cognitive disabilities, cloud computing and the use of emerging technologies.

Thursday’s events included the Annual Six Sate Summit hosted by Alliance, and The Coleman Institute’s Pre-Conference Planning discussions. Today is the Twelfth Annual Coleman Institute National Conference, The State of the States in Cognitive Disability and Technology: 2012, and tomorrow’s event is the ANCOR Technology Summit.

At today’s Coleman Institute Conference, Imagine! CEO Mark Emery will be hosting a lunch roundtable discussion on “The Next Generation of Service and Support Organizations.” Imagine!’s SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems will be hosting a lunch roundtable discussion as well. His topic: “Tablets and Apps for Organizations.”

We are privileged here at Imagine! to not only have access to the latest incredible body of information, but to also actively participate in each event.