Chicago-based startup CareBand has created a line of wearable devices designed to be worn by people with dementia in order to provide location and activity tracking information to their caregivers. Right now, these devices are used in a number of senior living communities, giving the people who live there more freedom and the staff peace of mind.
But not everyone with dementia lives in a facility like this. Countless Americans with dementia or Alzheimer’s prefer the comfort of living in their own home. For these people and their family members, there’s a compromise between living an independent life and personal safety. But soon CareBand will be able to cater to these people too, thanks to a little help from Amazon.
On Friday, CareBand announced its partnership with Amazon Sidewalk to extend its reach inside and outside of people’s homes.
Amazon Sidewalk is a program by Amazon that uses Bluetooth Low Energy and other frequencies to extend the reach of devices beyond a home Wi-Fi network and throughout a larger community.
This is made possible through what Amazon calls Sidewalk Bridges, which include select Ring security camera devices. These Sidewalk Bridges allow any Sidewalk-enabled device to connect to the network that the Bridges are connected to. So a person could move throughout a neighborhood without losing connection.
Through this partnership, CareBand will be able to provide location and activity tracking information beyond the reach of a Wi-Fi network. CareBand’s wearables don’t need to be paired to a Wi-Fi network, cellular network or smartphone in order to work, instead Amazon Sidewalk allows these devices to stay connected as long as it’s within the reach of a Sidewalk Bridge. This is important because it allows CareBand to provide location information when the wearer is outside of their home and regardless of whether they own a smartphone — which is something a lot of senior adults don’t have.
“We know the value that CareBand produces from our NIH-funded research studies and senior living community deployments, but getting to the at-home community has been challenging without a strong, scalable, and secure network partner,” CareBand founder and CEO Adam Sobol said in a statement. “I am extremely excited about the opportunity to work with Amazon and further CareBand’s mission to empower people living with dementia. It is no secret that many older adults want to age in place, and I look forward to making this a reality with CareBand and Sidewalk.”
This partnership was part of a larger announcement from Amazon Sidewalk. In addition to CareBand, Amazon also announced that Tile, Level and Amazon Echo products were all joining the Sidewalk network, thus expanding the reach of those products and Sidewalk itself. Since Sidewalk relies on enabled devices to extend its network, each addition to the Sidewalk family makes the entire program stronger as a whole.
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