Aparna Pujar, leading expert in Artificial Technology, Founder and CEO of Zemplee
First Published in Forbes India
PUBLISHED: Jun 16, 2020 01:30:54 PM IST
UPDATED: Jun 16, 2020 06:08:03 PM IST
Millions of lives are directly and indirectly falling victim to the Coronavirus that started the current COVID-19 pandemic, and so far, no one appears to be safe. One way or another, each of us has been disposed to new norms by what seems to be an unstoppable virus. The entire planet has never seen and experienced such levels of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty, in the history of the modern world.
Distressingly, social distancing has become the new norm for almost every country. Families are forced to physically separate as a preventive solution, here and overseas. However, even before the pandemic, over two million people, specifically the elderly population, have been living in more than 28,000 residential care homes in the United States alone. They have long been separated from their significant others, and keeping in touch is more isolating and desperate than ever before. Humans are social beings, and adhering to this rule is going against our natural state.
And it’s not news that medical staff members, especially the frontliners, are experiencing extremely high levels of stress and fatigue due to being understaffed and overworked. On account of health reasons, or by simply personal choice, verified reports of caregivers ceasing to show up for work are making the news.
But hiring more staff is more complicated than it sounds, for it is an extremely daunting task for any business. In residential care homes and assisted living facilities, there is the matter of costs, recruitment, paperwork, and training, to the current demands of the job managing current residents. There is a tremendous amount of work required to address a long list of problems. Not to mention, the arduous and stressful grind of desperately trying to avoid the current health risk everyone could be exposed to in the present time. Healthcare industries here and abroad have collapsed with their backs now against the wall, leaving the most vulnerable members of the population even more at risk.
At this point in time, there is a desperate demand for private business sectors to assist in reviving the economy and unearthing solutions to modernize further and augment a severely strained healthcare industry. Innovations in technology have been helping the healthcare space for decades, and no matter the size of each project to modernize and rediscover healthcare solutions, each endeavor has a massive impact on filling the gaps.
Nursing homes and residential care homes are reaping the benefits of modernized healthcare systems such as cloud-based data storage, telemedicine portals, wearable devices, and other innovations to improve healthcare management. Through state-of-the-art software and machines, staff can take advantage of lightning-fast communication and health status tracking of residents around the clock, including the ability to provide medical advice quickly.
Any healthcare business would not thrive without such technological advancements, and Aparna Pujar found immense potential in this thought. Aparna Pujar is an entrepreneur, a leading expert in Artificial Intelligence, and the CEO and Founder of Zemplee.
Zemplee was founded in 2015, a testament to Pujar’s business acuity that was truly ahead of its time. Zemplee is the cutting-edge technology in healthcare management, designed to assist the geriatric population. And undeniably, in current times, families and the industry have found Zemplee to be an essential part of the caregiving business. Sensors are placed strategically in homes, or caregiving institutions, making it possible to monitor a person’s daily living activities even when they’re far and out of reach.
Pujar says, “As we stand at this juncture weighing in how the world would change after Coronavirus, we are excited for the opportunity to bring highly impactful solutions to elderly care.” Elderly clients are satisfied to find that Zemplee is a comfortable and non-invasive solution, for they are not required to wear a device at any given time. Zemplee does all the work in the background as the client does their usual day-to-day activities, having no annoying gadget to charge or carry around with them.
Zemplee’s sensor-based system gives its clients firm reassurance that there’s no compromise on their privacy. Fundamentally, the system is run by a secure AI-powered software that carries out two main features. The first is distinguishing standard or typical behavior apart from events when the client is distressed. The second feature is notifying family members via a mobile app, giving them access to a range of real-time information such as medication intake, dining habits, activity levels, and even sleep patterns. But more than anything, Zemplee provides a feeling of security to the elderly population and their families, in this incredibly difficult time being apart.
From the healthcare industry, especially the elderly care sector of the business, to its elderly clients and their families, everyone involved is massively benefiting from the features of Zemplee’s unrivaled technology and the extraordinary level of assistance it provides.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
