Author: Lee St. James
Date: September 27, 2024
GlobalDWS recently hosted the second in our series of webinars designed to demystify technology adoption for the senior care sector. Our guest speaker was Lee Martin, CEO and Director of Care for Lutheran Homes Barossa in Southern Australia. Lee is a pioneer in the testing and deployment of robots to help reduce workplace injuries and stress while improving quality of care for residents.
Click below to view the video recording of this webinar:
Key Challenges faced by the residence:
There were eight key challenges that Lee discussed as his motivation for beginning to deploy robots to transform his operation:
Case Study:
Lee presented a summary of the key metrics he has used to justify the investment in delivery robots moving "trolleys" throughout his residence.
Distance pushing Trolleys:
~ 24km/day = 8,590 km/year
Time to deliver, retrieve and return Trolleys ~ 32,465 trolley transports/year
Net saving of 3 to 4 man-hours per day
A$150,000/yr invested back into clinical and services rosters
Benefits
With a primary focus on leveraging robots to support both residents and staff, Lee summarized the main advantages or benefits as follows:
Residents
More quality time with staff
Enjoy learning about robots
Social benefits for residents
Comfort benefits for stressed or agitated residents
Tele-conferencing – to families or Specialists
Staff
Prevention of workplace injuries
Stress relief
More job satisfaction
More quality time with residents
In terms of the operational advantages, Lee summarized them as follows:
Robots can do ~ 25% of what humans can do
Robots are scheduled, task-oriented, efficient – currently doing 60 robot tasks per day with more to come
Reduced touch points (door knobs, elevator buttons)
Less damage to the facility environment
Reduced staff turnover
Lower agency fees
Saving in staff time @ 2.5 FTE = $150,000/year
What did it take to be successful?
Vision, passion, patience and perseverance
Acknowledgement of risk – Board of directors must buy in; there will be things that go wrong and need to be managed/improved/updated
Stakeholder engagement – lots of two-way communication; newsletters, signage, discussions
Trials - try before you buy; work with supplier to ensure you understand the pros/cons and that staff and residents are comfortable with the fact that it won't be perfect
Doing WiFi heatmaps - making sure WiFi is full-strength wherever the robots will move
Leadership core team - collaborate with robot supplier(s) and IT technicians
If you would like to review the presentation, please download the PDF by clicking the link below:
Foundation for Success
After some interactive Q&A with the audience, the webinar continued by introducing our GlobalDWS Technology Adoption Business Model:
The GlobalDWS Technology Adoption Business Model is a key take-away from the webinar. Success starts at the base of the 'building' by establishing a solid foundation - you do that by initiating a digital assessment, creating a technology adoption plan and conducting pilot projects to test and validate the solutions you are most interested in.
Next steps?
Please contact us if you are interested in developing a technology adoption roadmap for your organization. For an initial investment starting at $10,000, you will save $50,000 or more and expedite your journey to transforming the workplace.
At GlobalDWS, we have a 5-stage framework for conducting digital assessments and developing a technology adoption plan in collaboration with our clients. These projects can be done in as little as 1-2 weeks or may take up to 6 weeks depending on how many options you want to examine and how much time you can allocate with your core team to discuss, prioritize and gather input from staff, residents and family members.
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