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Co-operation between K4Connect, Garmin on wearables for elderly, disabled

Technology company K4Connect, focused on empowering older adults and individuals living with disabilities, has announced a collaboration with Garmin International to integrate wearable devices as part of K4Community, K4Connect's ‘connected-life’ platform. The first fully integrated Garmin activity tracker, vívofit 3, is available as part of K4Community, K4Connect's offering designed for the residents (and their families), staff and operators of senior-living communities.

This collaboration between K4Connect and Garmin promises to deliver several benefits to senior-living residents, as well as community staff and operators. The integration provides residents with the tools they need to easily and continuously track their wellness and fitness information through the same K4Community application they use daily to foster ‘simpler, healthier and happier’ lives.

Including Garmin devices as part of the ever-expanding K4Community capabilities should help residents to live a more active and social lifestyle, while providing staff the information and tools to help their residents in achieve their personal goals.

Elderly find activity, sleep trackers useful

According to a recent report from AARP – ‘Building a Better Tracker: Older Consumers Weigh In on Activity and Sleep Monitoring Devices’, older adults are highly interested in using technology to help them track and improve their own health. Over 75 percent of participants in the study reported activity and sleep trackers to be useful.

In addition to steps and activity levels, Garmin wearables can also monitor heart rate,  track sleep, and provide many other health and fitness metrics. Garmin devices furthermore provide minimal user friction given their long battery life, water resistance and seamless interface with K4Community. Senior-living community staff members also have a view of real-time analytics showing activity and wellness trends, allowing them to provide the best in care and support.

Connected wellness devices provide healthier lives

"Connected wellness devices provide a huge opportunity for older adults to live a healthier life and incorporating the latest in advances in wearable technology from a renowned company like Garmin goes a long way toward helping us achieve our mission of serving older adults," said Scott Moody, co-founder, CEO and Chief Client Advocate of K4Connect. "K4Community is designed with a senior resident centric perspective, eliminating any potential barriers of enjoying the benefits of a fitness tracker."

Moreover, residents walking together and comparing daily step counts helps foster socialization and recent data shows that isolation in seniors increases the risk of heart disease by 29 percent, says Moody.  According to Travis Johnson, Lead Product Manager, Garmin Health, results from the initial deployments and pilots have been very good, accentuated by the older adult’s overall high usage rate. 

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