Wednesday, April 28, 2010
In a new system, telephone calls twice a day find out how an aging loved one is doing. Then the system reports back the good news or bad.
It’s called “FineThanx,” which is the answer everyone hopes to get to the check-in calls (www.finethanx.com)
The system makes it possible to get help by doing nothing.
Its developers are rolling the system out throughout the U.S. beginning this month from their headquarters in Sarasota, FL.
Peace of mind is what the father-and-daughter team who created FineThanx are offering clients. The idea for the business stemmed from a personal experience they wish others won’t have to go through. “My grandmother fell when she was 99, on a Wednesday, and lay on the floor until Friday morning when the housekeeper came and found her,” said Peter Scharff, one of the developers of FineThanx.
To avoid situations such as these, Scharff and his daughter, Rachel, came up with an automated phone service that checks in on clients once or twice daily.
If no one answers, or if a client needs assistance, the system immediately calls a “care circle” of people who can seek care for the client.
If the client is fine, the system sends reassuring e-mail messages to the client’s families, friends or health care professionals.
“I looked around realized there were very few systems like this, that are quite low-tech,” Scharff said. “It’s a way for a non-threatening, friendly, reaching out to say hello. And if they are OK, then we move on, and if they are not we alert the family and let them know that there might be a problem.”
FineThanx charges $34.95 a month for the service. There is a seven-day free trial period.
It’s an affordable and non-technical way to check on an aging relative, minus complicated devices, Rachel Scharff said. This is what sets the FineThanx service apart from other emergency care response services such as alarm buttons which people often don’t wear or can’t press in case of a fall or other accident. So the new system can work by itself or as a supplement to a panic button.
To sign up, go to www.finethanx.com. After that, all one needs for the service is a phone, Peter Scharff added. That means a lot to the elderly who may not want to learn how to work new devices.
“Many people don’t want technology in their homes. They are scared of it,” Peter Scharff said. “And there’s a dollar issue. People who may be living on a small fixed income don’t want to spend a lot of money.”
The Scharffs may be on to something. A 2006 study of telephone surveillance of elderly patients living alone in Canada saw that regular phone contact reduced use of home care services, and led to an overall decrease of health and public services costs, according to the journal Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. The study also cited a high satisfaction rate among the users of a telephone contact service and a decreased psychological burden on caregivers.
After reviewing other types of emergency care response systems, Rachel Scharff said FineThanx’s phone system makes sense.
“There is no equipment. It supplements panic buttons. You can get help by doing nothing.”
FineThanx is headquartered at 1990 Main St., Suite 750, Sarasota FL 34236. Telephone 941-306-4848. Email info@finethanx.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Ronald Smith, JournalistPR LLC, journalistpr@gmail.com. Telephone 888-730-6630.
In a new system, telephone calls twice a day find out how an aging loved one is doing. Then the system reports back the good news or bad.
It’s called “FineThanx,” which is the answer everyone hopes to get to the check-in calls (www.finethanx.com)
The system makes it possible to get help by doing nothing.
Its developers are rolling the system out throughout the U.S. beginning this month from their headquarters in Sarasota, FL.
Peace of mind is what the father-and-daughter team who created FineThanx are offering clients. The idea for the business stemmed from a personal experience they wish others won’t have to go through. “My grandmother fell when she was 99, on a Wednesday, and lay on the floor until Friday morning when the housekeeper came and found her,” said Peter Scharff, one of the developers of FineThanx.
To avoid situations such as these, Scharff and his daughter, Rachel, came up with an automated phone service that checks in on clients once or twice daily.
If no one answers, or if a client needs assistance, the system immediately calls a “care circle” of people who can seek care for the client.
If the client is fine, the system sends reassuring e-mail messages to the client’s families, friends or health care professionals.
“I looked around realized there were very few systems like this, that are quite low-tech,” Scharff said. “It’s a way for a non-threatening, friendly, reaching out to say hello. And if they are OK, then we move on, and if they are not we alert the family and let them know that there might be a problem.”
FineThanx charges $34.95 a month for the service. There is a seven-day free trial period.
It’s an affordable and non-technical way to check on an aging relative, minus complicated devices, Rachel Scharff said. This is what sets the FineThanx service apart from other emergency care response services such as alarm buttons which people often don’t wear or can’t press in case of a fall or other accident. So the new system can work by itself or as a supplement to a panic button.
To sign up, go to www.finethanx.com. After that, all one needs for the service is a phone, Peter Scharff added. That means a lot to the elderly who may not want to learn how to work new devices.
“Many people don’t want technology in their homes. They are scared of it,” Peter Scharff said. “And there’s a dollar issue. People who may be living on a small fixed income don’t want to spend a lot of money.”
The Scharffs may be on to something. A 2006 study of telephone surveillance of elderly patients living alone in Canada saw that regular phone contact reduced use of home care services, and led to an overall decrease of health and public services costs, according to the journal Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. The study also cited a high satisfaction rate among the users of a telephone contact service and a decreased psychological burden on caregivers.
After reviewing other types of emergency care response systems, Rachel Scharff said FineThanx’s phone system makes sense.
“There is no equipment. It supplements panic buttons. You can get help by doing nothing.”
FineThanx is headquartered at 1990 Main St., Suite 750, Sarasota FL 34236. Telephone 941-306-4848. Email info@finethanx.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Ronald Smith, JournalistPR LLC, journalistpr@gmail.com. Telephone 888-730-6630.
