Reflexion Health, a company that develops a platform for remote physical therapy, will be working with non-profit Los Angeles Jewish Home (LAJH) to bring virtual rehabilitation to seniors in the latter’s care.
Reflexion’s “Stand Tall” program — which was initially funded by a grant from the CDC — will bring the guidance of a professional physical therapist to seniors living in LAJH’s in-residence facilities. By using the rehabilitation company’s Virtual Exercise Rehabilitation Assistant (VERA) platform, the seniors will be able to participate in exercise programs tailored to their individual needs with progress remotely monitored by their clinician.
“We are in a new era of patient-centered, data-driven, value-based care, and virtual rehabilitation for fall prevention is a terrific example,” Dr. Joseph Smith, CEO of Reflexion Health, said in a statement. “It is difficult to overstate the catastrophic impact of falling on frail seniors, and we are delighted to team up with LAJH to help their patients avoid this pothole in their road to recovery and successful aging.”
Reflexion bills the “Stand Tall” program as easy to use regardless of seniors’ technological literacy or potential cognitive impairment. The program is a digital translation of the better known Otago Exercise Program, and delivers 30 minutes of appropriate exercise two to three days per week.
Studies of the program conducted with the CDC have demonstrated significant improvements in patient strength and mobility, according to Reflexion, thereby reducing the risk of dangerous falls as well as seniors’ dependence on assistive devices. Observing clinicians using the platform require no special training to use VERA, with one staff member able to monitor multiple participants while receiving feedback from the platform on patients’ form.
“The ‘Stand Tall’ program helps our residents improve their strength and mobility and, like a video game, is easy to navigate and enjoy," Molly Forrest, chief executive officer and president of LAJH, said in a statement. “We’re proud to be joining Reflexion Health and bring this digital solution to seniors to help them avoid falls and improve future outcomes.”
Reflexion Health spun out of the West Health Institute around the turn of the decade to explore how Microsoft’s Kinect could be used to power digital physical therapy programs. Although Microsoft killed the motion-tracking camera late last year, Smith told MobiHealthNews that the company has been exploring other hardware options, “many with form factors and performance characteristics that lend themselves better to our specific applications.”
