In Your Own Backyard

When pursuing his PhD, Ken Dupin studied countries around the world and found they focus more on care in the home for their aging relatives and less on nursing homes.

Dupin’s research inspired him to create a company — N2Care — and a solution — the MEDCottage, a mobile self-contained care unit that can be placed on any property. According to Susan Conn, the company’s director of operations, the concept involves a modular 288-sq. ft. caregiving compartment containing a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, all with smart features.

The mobile unit is, according to Conn, “not a home health care package, but a home health care environment.”

The unit features an isolated entrance and UV and disinfectant systems, as well as a pathogen protection system that permits the containment of pathogens in a designated area for disease control. Environmental features include controlled water temperature and water levels in the tub and sink, a door opening system and wall interior monitoring.

The MEDCottage can be located anywhere, says Conn (such as a family caregiver’s backyard, she suggests) as long as water, electricity and waste management can be directly tied into the plumbing.

Though utility connections increase bills, Conn says, that cost pales in comparison to the costs — both financial and emotional — of loved ones living in nursing homes.

“The MEDCottage saves a half to a third of nursing home costs. The average nursing home is around $6,500 a month; this would come in at around $2,000 a month depending on features you want,” Conn says.

So, why is leasing a MEDCottage a better option than outfitting a room in a pre-existing house? “Many immediate needs cannot wait for a new construction,” Conn says. “Also, many homes are not ADA-compliant with specialized features that are specifically designed to promote and extend independence. Stairs, narrow hallways and bathtubs with standard heights are all factors to consider when you are thinking about the safest environment for a loved one with a disability.”

MEDCottages give residents privacy, but lets them remain close in proximity to their caregiver. “If the resident is mobile, he or she can come in the house for meals, etc., but if they aren’t, you have full access to them by walking to their cottage,” Conn says.

The heart of the cottage is the family communications center, giving caregivers and patients dynamic interaction. For example, the smart toilet weighs the user and can record body temperature, blood pressure and perform a urinalysis. All that information is accessible via the Internet through passwords.

The communications center also includes a Web cam, voice communication by computer or cell phone, a movement locator (through an ankle or wrist bracelet) and medicine consumption monitoring and notification.

Conn says the MEDCottage project was developed for the baby boomers — all 78 million of them.

Dupin recently publicized his message by sending 100 bedpans to national leaders including President Obama, cabinet members, senators and representatives with a sticker that declared, “We’re not going to nursing homes, not ever!”

The first MEDCottage should be available for lease around spring 2010, Conn says. N2Care is currently building a prototype and, soon, a “test resident” will make himself or herself at home in the mobile unit for three to six months as part of a pilot program.