Randomized controlled trials performed by UC Berkeley prove caregivers receive significantly better sleep when using People Power’s AI Caregiver services.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, USA, March 14, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — People Power Company, a Silicon-Valley provider of AI Caregiver services, in collaboration with the Berkeley Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley, announced results at the 2022 HIMSS meeting from a research study funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) titled “Developing and Evaluating In-Home Supportive Technology for Dementia Caregivers”. Caregivers for people with dementia often experience declines in sleep quality as they deal with anxiety associated with their loved ones’ declines in functioning. In this landmark randomized controlled trial study, the People Power Caregiver solution was installed in 178 homes where a family member was providing primary care for a person with dementia. 115 homes were randomly assigned to the active treatment condition with all sensors and caregiving services activated, while 63 homes were assigned to the control condition and waitlisted to receive People Power Caregiver. Results indicate People Power Caregiver protected family caregivers in the active group from declining sleep quality, whereas the sleep quality of caregivers in the control group deteriorated over time. This finding highlights People Power’s value for improving the lives of caregivers and care recipients dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias.
People Power provides a white-label ready artificial intelligence (AI) and internet-of-things (IoT) solution designed to decrease anxiety and improve peace-of-mind by making it feel like someone is always helping watch over a senior day and night. It combines sensors (e.g., motion, doors, water leak ) with machine learning algorithms that learn lifestyle patterns in each home and alert caregivers to abnormal situations (e.g., falls, wandering, prolonged inactivity). Built to protect the privacy and dignity of seniors and their caregivers, People Power’s AI Caregiver does not require video cameras or wearables. In this NIA-funded grant, caregivers’ self-reported sleep quality was assessed at baseline, 3-months, and 6-months. Post hoc analyses revealed a decline in sleep efficiency in the control group between 3- and 6-months (t(62) = -3.076, p = .003), but not in the active treatment group (t(114) = .183, p = .855). These findings support People Power’s goal of developing AI Caregiver services that help real caregivers live healthier lives and provide better care for loved ones with dementia.
People Power’s in-home technology solution addresses major public health problems. Caregiving for a family member with dementia is becoming increasingly common as the population ages worldwide and is often associated with increased stress and anxiety, higher healthcare costs, increased mortality, and more frequent suicidal ideation in caregivers. Currently, 16 million family members and friends provide 18.6 billion hours of care each year for people with dementia in the US alone. When caregivers experience poor sleep quality, their ability to stay healthy, make good decisions, and provide high quality care also suffers. In a previous randomized controlled trial, People Power and UC Berkeley reported the same AI Caregiver solution was scientifically validated to reduce caregiver anxiety in the active treatment group. While other technology and smart home solutions for supporting caregivers have been introduced into the market, none have been as rigorously evaluated.
“Poor sleep quality over long periods causes poor mental and physical health, impacting both the caregiver and the care recipient”, said Gene Wang, CEO and Principal Investigator. “After completing our research study, one participant commented, ‘I was a brand new, sleep-deprived caregiver when People Power came along, running up and downstairs every time my father made a noise. People Power gave me back my peace of mind.’”
“It is vitally important that we do everything possible to ensure products and services offered to dementia caregivers provide meaningful help and do no harm”, said Robert W. Levenson, Ph.D., Director of the Berkeley Psychophysiology Laboratory. “We are proud to work with a company like People Power that has committed to rigorous scientific evaluation of its products and services. Dementia caregivers are a highly vulnerable population providing an extraordinarily important service to those in their care. Both the Berkeley and People Power teams are very encouraged by these new research findings showing the value of People Power’s solutions for protecting caregiver sleep.”
People Power and UC Berkeley have recently been awarded a new NIA-funded grant for commercializing this life-changing technology. People Power is further advancing its in-home AI solutions in ways designed to increase accessibility, reduce costs, and create benefits for caregivers that start more quickly, last longer, and affect other aspects of caregiver health including reducing depression and increasing well-being.
About People Power Company
People Power is an industry-leading software services company providing a white-label ready AI-powered virtual health platform featuring AI Caregivers for care service providers. People Power delivers patented machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies that address the immediate and emerging needs of professional and familial caregivers and the families they serve. Visit https://www.peoplepowerco.com.
About the Berkeley Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley
The Berkeley Psychophysiology Laboratory (BPL) has been studying the impact of dementia on patients and caregivers for over 20 years in collaboration with researchers and clinicians at the Memory and Aging Center at UCSF. BPL has been working with People Power for the past five years to develop and evaluate products that improve the lives of caregivers and people with dementia. Visit: https://bpl.berkeley.edu.
David Moss
People Power Company
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