Category Archives: Uncategorized

4th of july

Stars, Stripes, & Skill-Building!

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This 4th of July, invite your residents to enjoy the spirit of America with our newest seasonal games! 

To help you celebrate Independence Day in style, we’ve launched seasonal renditions of your patients’ favorite games. Player’s can honor the stars and stripes from the comfort of their rooms.

Slots of July

Players will pull the slots to collect three (3) matching patriotic items to win the round! Attach a sticker to your player’s chest to target weight-shifting, balance, and squatting.

Freedom Flight! 

Player’s will navigate a rocket through obstacles, collecting coins & enjoying a virtual fireworks display as they progress. Speed and difficulty settings allow you to create a just-the-right fit for every player to engage them in a meaningful activity from anywhere in your center.

 

🎇 Are you looking for a fun way to engage residents on this 4th of July? Each of these games are available in the “Group Play” mode so players can enjoy a socially distanced tournament. Patients can even connect with loved ones back at home, right there in the games! They’ll have a great time sharing their favorite holiday memories and traditions. 

adopting tech

What it takes to successfully adopt new technology in SNFs

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And why you'll be left behind if you don’t

COVID-19 presents an opportunity for skilled nursing facilities to adopt new technology.

After 25 years working on the therapy provider side as an occupational therapist, clinical specialist, and multiple senior operations roles, I moved in 2019 to become co-founder and chief clinical officer at RESTORE Skills. I have seen for myself the power of creativity and innovation to get better results in therapy, and I recognize the tremendous impact gaming software could bring to the 2.4 million seniors living in long term care facilities. 

RESTORE is an interactive software product for adult rehabilitation patients that uses any webcam-equipped, Wi-Fi-enabled device as a therapy tool in the gym, at the bedside, or home post-discharge. The virtual gamification tool ensures skill-building can happen anywhere, and any loved ones can join therapy sessions virtually. It's the kind of technology SNFs can adopt to change the state of therapy now during COVID and beyond.

I joined the RESTORE Skills team because I saw the delight in the eyes of patients and recognized the potential breakthrough this software could make. What I didn't see coming was the unintentional resistance to technology adoption in healthcare that I encountered once I began working on the therapy technology provider side. 

RESTORE's Chief Clinical Officer, Ian Oppel, helping a SNF adopt new tech

Facility owners and therapy leaders experience our software and agree it serves patients better than reaching for cones, manipulating clothespins, or repeating the same motion to increase shoulder strength and ROM. What they struggle with is getting busy therapists to change the way they are used to working.

But, COVID-19 is forcing facilities to change or risk being left behind. Therapists, accustomed to using therapy gym equipment and keeping patients engaged with interactive group therapy, are now having to find ways to bring therapy into every patient room without sharing equipment. COVID-19 has forced all therapists and facilities to adapt and get creative. 

I've come to realize that technology is innovating faster than ever to solve problems created by those who resist technology. It's time to become an active part of this innovation and evolve with technology or risk that components of your job or maybe even all functions of your job being replaced by smart learning. 

Facilities risk being outpaced by competitors that gain a reputation for customer satisfaction, innovation, and better outcomes. 

In every industry, there will be those businesses that confront the challenges of this global pandemic, and instead of just struggling through, use this new normal as a springboard to take action. These will be the businesses that come out on top.

Champions are key to successful technology adoption

On the provider side, I always looked for innovative technologies that could both accelerate and elevate clinical outcomes, improve customer experience, reduce costs, and simplify work for our teams. Some tools were more successful than others, but the common factor in success was having champions who were committed to working through any challenges before succeeding. 

Build time into their schedules

Even before COVID-19, no one likes to take time away from therapists' productivity to allocate time for training and adoption. Hardworking therapists are busy and aren't interested in looking less than competent in front of patients and coworkers. Successfully implementing new technology requires building time for adoption into therapists' daily schedule and then supporting them through trial and error. 

Start with the right champions

Even if new initiatives are intended for everyone, the most successful adoptions start with identifying champions best suited to be early adopters. When selecting a champion, find someone with a genuine interest or understanding of the big picture goal, which will include growing your census, increasing your quality mix, improving your outcomes, and increasing customer satisfaction. 

From there, you'll want to relay to them their essential role, as well as the roles of the center, regional, and company leaders in reaching these goals and your expectations for the process. 

Track and measure results compared to the status quo

Have an easy way to track and measure results so you can determine if the cost and implementation process of the new technology is worthwhile. Analyze what is working, not working, where there are success stories, and what additional recommendations will help to ultimately the establishment of best practices.

Don't expect to be perfect

Once your team begins using a new tool, it's important not to apply a false pressure to have to be perfect. I conducted a virtual training session recently where almost nothing went as planned, was literally sweating, and at the end heard the patient say, "That was so much fun, I haven't skied in years and can't wait to tell my grandson what I did today."

Click here to learn more about how RESTORE Skills is helping skilled nursing facilities meet therapy needs, improve patient outcomes, and keep patients engaged and connected, especially during COVID-19. Did we mention everyone is having fun while doing it?

Meet Your Group & Concurrent Therapy Goals

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We want to help you reach your group and concurrent therapy goals in an exciting and engaging way. Add fun to your center, encourage residents to move more, and build community with our new group play feature. In this post, we'll discuss group play and learn how centers are incorporating games into their group practice. Then, we'll review tips to help you and your team get started!

The RESTORE Difference

The Group Play feature helps with the PDPM requirements for group and concurrent therapy. The portability of the platform eliminates environmental limitations to promote enjoyable and engaging group therapy opportunities. For instance, you can create practice opportunities by setting up several stations or engaging multiple players on different devices simultaneously.

Our users love to engage with the group play setting. In fact, at a team training in a Massachusetts center we saw the power of gamification during simultaneous group sessions. To start, the therapists split people into two groups and set up each station was to play Ski Saga. Then, players worked on weight shifting, trunk rotation, squatting, strengthening, and standing tolerance. It was great to see the variety of exercises and controllers used to enhance the session! The whole room was full of excitement as players took turns "skiing" to reach their therapy goals.

Together is Fun

Our fun, innovative, and engaging therapeutic activities bring a vibrant boost to your therapy gym. Playing games in a group session can facilitate conversation among players as they discuss their hobbies, memories, or traditions. Players enjoy playing together as a team, in large groups by taking turns, or even tournament style to create some excitement and light-hearted competition.

Centers can also enjoy Group Play when playing as part of a community event in the activity department or elsewhere. For instance, the team can create a "pet therapy" day at the center and incorporate RESTORE animal-themed games as one station, along with stations for making dog biscuits, playing fetch with a therapy retriever, and setting up a pet show.

We hope these tips spark your imagination and encourage you to step out of the box for your next therapy session or group activity. Do you have any fun stories from a RESTORE group play session? Tell me about it by sending your account and a few of your favorite pictures to amanda@restoreskills.com.

Follow  RESTOREskills on Facebook & LinkedIn for updates on our platform, new game announcements, testimonials, tips, and much much more! To schedule an obligation free demonstration of our on-demand therapy platform with our team, please contact us at info@restoreskills.com or call (330) 968-2879. We look forward to supporting your goals!