Navigating the emotional labyrinth of Alzheimer's care can be both heartbreaking and frustrating, especially when personalized care falls by the wayside. Our journey begins with a relatable exploration of these challenges—stories of care facilities that miss the mark on truly understanding their residents, turning beloved family members into mere room numbers. We wrap this poignant narrative with a lighthearted twist, sharing personal anecdotes about how life’s quirks and ailments can be surprisingly comedic.
Enter Tim and Tannis Roberts, the innovative duo behind EchoBox Memory Vault, who are reshaping person-centric healthcare with their groundbreaking tool. Neither were tech people, worked in healthcare, or had a business background. Yet both were moved to improve our care model by providing the comfort of a loved one's voice. EchoBox preserves cherished memories and stories, enriching family bonds and supporting those dealing with dementia and palliative care. Tim and Tannis share profound insights and personal stories that illustrate how capturing memories can provide lasting emotional benefits and a sense of belonging, transforming the caregiving experience.
This episode celebrates the importance of personal connections and innovation in Alzheimer’s care. We discuss the powerful impact of EchoBox, a technology that helps preserve and share the stories of loved ones, offering caregivers the ability to provide individualized care.
• Conversations surrounding the emotional challenges of caregiving
• The dehumanization often faced in care facilities
• Introduction to EchoBox and its founding story
• How EchoBox captures memories and personalizes care
• Real-world examples showcasing its effectiveness
• Technical details on practically using the app
• Insights on the growing adoption of EchoBox in care facilities
• Encouragement for advocacy and connection in caregiving
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Don Priess (00:00):
When the world has got you down, Alzheimer's sucks.
It's an equal opportunitydisease that chips away at
everything we hold dear and todate, there's no cure. So until
there is, we continue to fightwith the most powerful tool in
our arsenal, love. This is loveconquers all, a real and really
(00:22):
positive podcast that takes adeep dive into everything,
Alzheimer's, The Good, The Badand everything in between. And
now here are your hosts, Susiesinger Carter and me. Don
Priess, hi everybody. I'm Susiesinger Carter, and I'm Don
(00:43):
Priess, and this is Loveconquers all's Hello Susan,
Susie Singer Carter (00:48):
hi, Donald.
I'm not gonna ask how you are,because I know you're in bed
back. This
Don Priess (00:53):
is a this is a new position for me in our show.
Yeah, I'm so much better. But,yeah, I still can't sit so,
yeah, hence I'm laying back. Butso it's a little weird. But hey,
you do what you got to do,
Susie Singer Carter (01:11):
yeah, well, at least you're not moaning, oh
my god, like you were right.
Don Priess (01:17):
It was, it was, it was, I mean, I've had bad backs
my whole life. There was nothingeven similar to this. This was,
yeah, yeah. This was horrendous.
And, but so like I say, I can, Ican walk again, I can actually
stand for a little bit and justsitting. That's, that's the
worst. So,
Susie Singer Carter (01:39):
yay. Yeah, so don't get me started. Don't
get me started. Our next podcastall our ailments, we're going to
talk about them all. Don't getus started. It could last a
week. Anyway, I was thinkingabout, I don't know what
(01:59):
triggered this, but I wasthinking about the fact that
when you go, when I was going tolook for a place for my mom,
when I had to move her out of myhouse, and I was thinking about
all the pomp and circumstance,right? That when you go from
from facility to facility, andinitially you're horrified, and
then your bar gets lower, you'relike, Oh, well, this one's not
(02:21):
that bad. This one's okay, thisone's right. And then you can
land on a place that you thinkis like, this is it? This is
this, I feel good about data.
And then starts the up intake.
And you know, they you'refilling out all this stuff and
all the paperwork and and Iremember specifically filling
(02:43):
out kind of an info sheet on mymom, right, like about what is,
does she like? Music? Does shelike, you know, movies, what
kind does what kind of food doesshe like? What's her background,
what, you know, where does shecome? You know, all these kinds
of things, which I thought, oh,that's, that's nice. Like
(03:03):
they're actually asking me aboutmom, and they're going to
actually, you know, use thisinformation and and, lo and
behold, that didn't happen.
Like, nobody knew anything aboutmy mom, right? Like, not
nothing. Like zero, like I wouldsay today, like I'd play mom's
music, that, you know, herrecordings, and they'd go, wow,
(03:25):
who's singing? I go, what momis? That's her, you know. And it
didn't know anything. And it andin it happened with the social
worker who came when mom went,was going into palliative
nobody, like they asked me soall this stuff, and I'm and at
that point I was like, a jaded,you know, pro, so I'm like,
(03:47):
Yeah, okay, like, I'll just gothrough it, because I knew no
one was going to even payattention. And that's such a
problem. It that that, becausewhat it does is, like, it
dehumanizes everybody, right? Sothere's no, there's no
connection to these humans as aspeople, but just bed fillers or
(04:09):
chair fillers or room fillers.
So it's a big problem, and andwe have some guests today that
are going to have a solution tothis horrible problem, because
it really is a problem. I mean,if you, if you don't, if you're
(04:33):
not recognized, like, can I justtell a quick story one of my
colleagues in Australia, MoniquePok who is is part of open the
doors, which is a big it's a biginternational organization for
quality of living, for demandpeople with dementia and
Alzheimer's and others, right?
And she was visiting. She wrotethis in on LinkedIn today. She
(04:56):
was like, there was she went tovisit. Her dad and and they were
having a lovely time, and at onepoint she just said, you know,
Dad, I love you, right? And hesaid, I love you too. You see
me. You see me. That's sobeautiful, right? Like that just
gets you in the heart, because,and, and in fact, she does see
(05:17):
him. And how important is thatto be seen as As for who you
are?
Don Priess (05:26):
Because people forget, people forget who you
were and and people who neverknew you don't know at all,
don't
Susie Singer Carter (05:34):
know so to have, but for him to have, for
him to actually verbalize thatand say, You see me, that tells
you right there, how importantit is for all of us to we all
want to be seen, how importantit is for him to say that to his
daughter, that I love you too.
You see me, I get chills, justlike it makes me cry. Anyway, I
(05:55):
are our guest today. They getthat. They get it. And why don't
you introduce them? Don theywill
Don Priess (06:05):
our guests today, they saw a need, and they did
something about it. And let metell you a little bit more about
them. Tim and Tannis Roberts arethe driving force behind the
newest person centric approachin healthcare, Echo, box, memory
vault, a remarkable innovationthat is transforming the way we
connect and communicate with ourloved ones, especially for
(06:26):
families touched by Alzheimer's,Echo box makes connections,
creates legacies, informs careteams, streamlines daily
routines, encourages engagementand offers a place to tell life
Stories. Simply put, the betterwe know somebody, the better
care we can provide for them.
Tim and Tannis are here to sharetheir story the mission behind
(06:46):
echo box and how this groundbreaking technology is making a
meaningful difference incaregiving. So let's not wait
another moment and say hello toTim and Tannis Roberts, Hello,
guys, hello.
Unknown (07:00):
Thank you so much for having us.
Excellent. Oh, it's lovely tohave you. Yeah, it's amazing to
be here. Thank you so much forhaving us on you know, this is,
this is what it takes. We'retrying to get the word out, and
we think we're onto something,and so we couldn't be more happy
to be on the show. Thank you, ofcourse,
Susie Singer Carter (07:18):
of course, we're happy to have you. Yeah, I
it's funny. I was reading someof the information that you sent
to us, right? And, and you said,though this, this idea started
with a doodle, right? Yeah, andI love that. That's because, for
(07:39):
me as a filmmaker like I justwant to see you doodling it
right, and see what that doodlelook like, but, but there's
something behind the doodle, oryou know that either you knew it
or not, that doodle wasmotivated by something that you
know either you recognized oryou know you were or you Already
(08:00):
you already knew. So why do youtell us? I'm interested in how
you how this came about. Youknow, I think all good, good,
good changes come about frompersonal experience,
Unknown (08:12):
right? Well, I guess it goes back to 2016 Believe it or
not, I saw a video about agentleman who lost his wife and
used the sound of her voice onthe answering machine as a
source of comfort to just gethim up and going during the day,
when he was feeling sad orsentimental, you know. And
unfortunately, his serviceprovider had to upgrade their
(08:33):
system, which meant he lost thatrecording. And so the video I
saw actually showed the teamfinding the recording and giving
it back to him, and it was sucha powerful, emotional sort of
moment that it kind of got ussitting back thinking, what
options do seniors possiblyreally have right now that, you
know, aren't riddled withproblems of their own, whether
(08:54):
it's privacy concerns or justfamiliarity with technology. And
so we kind of thought, you know,there might be a need for for a
technology for families,initially, that could capture,
you know, grandpa and grandma'sfavorite fishing holes and
recipes and childhood stories,things that just are fleeting,
but just once they're gone,they're gone. And our pilot
(09:17):
model just just kind of took offon us. We we launched in 2020,
and we got some local news thatwent national, here in Canada,
and then it went international,the BBC to kind of cover story,
or not a cover story, I guess, afollow up story on Stan Beaton
and how he had inspired sometechnology. And so we kind of
thought we were doing and whatwe knew what we were doing. And
(09:38):
we thought, you know, the rosecolored glasses were on, but was
through. What was reallyinteresting was that the global
response just was overwhelminglyobviously coming from
caregiving, specificallyDementia Care, Alzheimer's care,
palliative care, special needs,children, music therapy, speech.
(10:00):
We couldn't even it was sodistracting at first, we we
thought, Well, that's nice, thatit can help in these realms. But
we didn't really see theevolution that was before us and
what would happen in the nextfour years that brought us to
where we're at now. So I thinkthat was kind of our
inspiration. Story was just thatbasic, sort of those feelings
that you're you're mentioningthere just the you know, the
(10:22):
loving sense of connection whenyou understand, you know,
someone recognizes that they'rebeing seen, or a little job that
you that's something fleeting,and you know at the moment, it
might not seem all thatmeaningful, but boy, these
little packets and treasuressure carry a lot of emotion, and
they do us a lot of good in thelong run.
Susie Singer Carter (10:40):
Absolutely, they're so powerful, right? I
mean, I remember making a bookfor my mom. I didn't know
anything about Alzheimer's, andwhen she moved in with me for a
year, I did, like when the applebook an apple my Mac, you could
make a book with pictures. Andso I did the story of lovey,
that was her nickname, and Istarted from babyhood all the
(11:00):
way to present at that time, sothat she could look at it, you
know, and and remember allthose, you know, the the long
term memories, like hergrandparents and and all that
you know, which was, was, it wasgreat, you know, but, but by the
way, it got worn and torn. Itgot, you know, from overuse.
(11:20):
Because it was about eight yearsbefore she passed in two years
ago, but it was like eight yearsbefore that. So it's also
difficult, once they're notliving with you, to get other
people to take the time to toreally know the person that
they're working with. And so howdoes, how does the echo box help
(11:41):
the caregivers?
Unknown (11:44):
Sure, trying to take this one, sure? Well, I guess at
a family level, Echo box, it canwork as more like a legacy
piece, right, collecting all ofthe favorite stories, recipes,
anything about that they love,about life, and then when you
move into more Let's care teams,it can work as a way to
(12:05):
familiarize yourself with theindividual, and you can use it
kind of as a helpful tool, like,if they're having a bad day,
well, we've got the musicsection so you can take on that
and then play their favoritesong, or you can learn about
what their favorite meal is.
Yeah,we're kind of, we're discovering
more. The more we talk tocaregivers, the more they kind
of inform us on what it can do.
(12:27):
They're saying that it can, itcan maintain and tease out the
cognitive function of peoplethat are sort of declining in
their verbal, you know, whatthey want to express. Once
people have have kind of, youknow, gone through their
Alzheimer's or dementia journeyand they're no longer expressing
what they love. If they had anecho box that listed off their
favorite songs and colors andscents, then we can it goes a
(12:49):
long way to make sure that we'remaintaining the quality of life
and for the caregivers. Youknow, we've heard that there's a
often, there's times there's arotating door, there's a lot of
caregivers that switchfacilities, and there's a lot
for them to do and to to try totake on all at once. And once
again, they're telling us that,boy, if, if we had a little echo
box, it would be like a cheatsheet for everyone to genuinely
(13:09):
not just kind of read that theylike music, but what music they
like from what genre they like,they'll have a link to actually
play that music. So, you know,it really in one we heard a
wonderful story from fromsomeone we couldn't help, but we
put it right onto our website.
Actually, it was a senior carespecialist, and she said she was
describing a team that had an APerth, a resident that was very
(13:30):
abject to being told to go tobed. So if it was around
bedtime, you had to be verycareful about how you address
bedtime. And as soon as he kindof caught word that it was going
to be bedtime, that his dug hisheels in. And one day the mash
song came up, and the theme songfor mash just kind of came into
the room, and he stood up and hesaid, Oh, mash is on time for
bed everybody. And he said, Goodnight to everybody. And he got
(13:52):
ready for bed. And so the careteam just they couldn't believe
it, and so they were jottingthis down. And they never played
that during the day. They playedit at night when he was having
trouble grieving. So that's justone example, but if we kind of
expand that general idea tocover all of the senses and all
of the little things that welove about life that makes us
tick, then I can't imagine mepicturing my mom or my dad on
(14:15):
the other side of the countrynot appreciating the fact that
his care team has all theselittle things that he loves
about life, whether he canexpress them or not, as
Susie Singer Carter (14:25):
beautiful.
It makes one of you weretalking. It made me think about,
you know, when, when we go, andwhen you watch a doctor go onto
the the computer screen andlooking at your records, right?
It's a it should be in therecords. It should be like, you
know, part of echo box should belike, Oh, okay. And then it's
this, okay, I see you like this,and I see you like that. Oh, you
come from Cleveland. That's, youknow, I have family there,
(14:48):
whatever. I mean it because,because that is part of care.
It's not just medical, right?
So, so it is, be, it is thatpart of a. The whole person
Don Priess (15:01):
a more important part of care, if one could say,
and that medical is to keep youliving, but you're not, you
know, if there's no life live,there's you need you. I mean,
what are we living for if wedon't have those things we can
enjoy and share?
Unknown (15:16):
Absolutely, we've been told that we are, you know, and
this just, it raises the hair onmy arms. But people tell us
that, oh, you know, you're goingto fill the gap. This is a
person centric approach to care.
You're going to elevate qualityof life and life, you're going
to enrich lives. And, you know,we thought we were just kind of
creating a digital legacy, adigital legacy like, like a, you
know, on a photo album withwords and a recording or two. We
(15:38):
didn't realize this applicationcould be used as a tool, not
like you're saying in themedical sense, but in all of
these person centric ways thatreally make us tick. We're just
really surprised and fortunate.
I think that there's room for atechnology to we've been told
that there's a gap big enough inthe market, that there's a
(15:59):
market in the gap, and we'rejust the first ones in. We're
kind of, you know, we're kindof, that, would that's nice, but
we're coming from a place where,you know, we didn't see this
coming. We didn't, we're not, wedon't have a health care
background. We aren't, you know,business tycoons by any sense.
And we are not tech savvy. We'renot tech savvy. So, you know,
we're in the deep end threetimes over. But it's just the
(16:20):
virtue of the idea itself keepsus just hanging on to the
coattails. And so here we are.
Yes, so
Don Priess (16:26):
where does the technology sit? Where does it
meaning that, okay, you're at afacility, or, you know, you're
3000 miles away, your father'sat a facility. Is it a something
physical? Is it on a phone? Isit on a tablet? And, you know,
how do you get if the facilitydoesn't have the that tablet,
what do you do? How does itwork? Technically?
Unknown (16:47):
Right? Well, one of the great things we discovered is
that there's technologies outthere kind of like us not doing
the exact same thing, but youhave to buy their devices. You
have to buy their tablets, theirscreens, all of their, you know,
their gadgets proprietary. Wethought, boy, well, we just
snuck in the back door and wemade an application. You can
find us online. You go straightto echo box.ca you've figured
(17:09):
you can read all about us, andthen there's a free you can join
for free, so you can check usout before you make any
decisions. If you think echo boxis the right choice for your
caregiving situation, whetheryou're at home telling your own
story. I love taking care of aloved one, or whether you run a
small business or a CEO of alarge corporation, you can, you
know, choose an adequatesubscription for your caregiving
(17:30):
environment, and then just gofrom there. It's a simple
process of filling out somecaregivers in your account. They
get invited automatically byemail, and then you can just
start going to work and capturestories for the people that are
in your care, andthe caregivers will have that on
their phone or their tablets asthey go, right. Okay, so
Don Priess (17:47):
the facility would have to have somebody there with
a phone or a tablet to sharethat with, with the individual,
Unknown (17:56):
with the individual.
Yeah, the great idea is, whoeverlikes the whoever likes echo box
as a service would sign us up,and then the people that get
invited through those emailswould now have a chance to join
the application side, and so allof their devices would have that
information. So if I wasspeaking with Stanley in the
morning and I entered somethingabout how he loves 50s cowboy
movies, Tannis that came in thatnight opened up in Echo box, she
(18:19):
would see that entry in hersystem. So the network just
goes, it's private, it's withinhouse, but at the same time it's
it's shared between everybody,
Susie Singer Carter (18:28):
right? I think you should, guys should,
you should pitch it. Okay? I'mjust saying you should pitch it
to as as part of the program ofevery facility like that should
be mandatory that everybodytheir medical records and their
and their historical recordsneed to be part of their their
records in whole. Why not?
Because they ask you, like Isaid in the opening, they ask
(18:51):
you this information, but nobodylooks at it because it's on a
piece of paper or, you know, ona PDF somewhere hidden away,
nobody's going to look at it. Itshould be, it should be co
mingled into your chart.
Absolutely,
Unknown (19:07):
absolutely. And these needs assessment forms and these
intake forms, we've just beentold like they mean well, but
they go into a filing cabinetand they never see the light of
day again. I'm
Susie Singer Carter (19:17):
proof. I'm telling you. I'm right, you
know. And I'm an advocate, canyou can imagine, with someone
who doesn't have an advocate,and for the voiceless people
that don't have a voice, youknow, and I mean, literally,
don't have a voice, because mymom got to the point where she
couldn't articulate verbally,she could articulate other ways,
like, you know, like we do whenwe lose certain abilities, we
(19:40):
compensate, but no one waslooking again, the concept of
being seen, and of course, theydon't have the time. That's a
whole nother story. Hello, NoCountry for Old people. That's
why I'm doing the documentary.
But that that, in the meantime,make it easy on the caregivers
that are there, that. Easy.
(20:01):
That's easy, and it helps themto say, you know, oh, this woman
doesn't speak English. Oh, nowonder she's not responding to
me, right?
Unknown (20:11):
I mean, I think it's a great diffuser. I mean, what a
crime it is to that some ofthese people just ended up being
called like the scratcher or thebiter, because what they have
left to them is to them is tojust defend themselves and try
to defend their comfort. Andthat's the only way
Susie Singer Carter (20:25):
they can communicate, right? Tim, I mean,
that's their way ofcommunication. I mean, there's a
great one of our one of ourheroes, Al power, who speaks all
the time, all over the world onAlzheimer's, is a geriatrician,
geriatologist, rather, and he'sbrilliant. And he says, you
know, when people lose theirarticulation, they are still
communicating to you, but noone's really taking heed, right?
(20:47):
So they're these do. It's like,Oh, that hurts. You would say
that hurts someone else thatcan't. So they, they they push,
they bite, they do whatever theycan to make it stop.
Unknown (20:59):
That's right, absolutely. And of course, as a
caregiver, that must befrustrating. And so it's just
from both ends. It's just like anegative feedback loop, whereas
it I mean, and this isn'tsomething that we meant to do,
these people have told us thatwe stumbled into having kind of
lightning in a bottle here. Butif we can somehow kind of tease
out the better halves of both ofthose sides of things and create
(21:22):
a winning solution foreverybody. I think that's kind
of the Win. Win that familiesare looking for in senior care
is just to know that my lovedone is in good hands and you
know, and they're notoverburdening the that caring
team that's trying to providethe best for them. So we'll
Don Priess (21:38):
be right back.
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(22:24):
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Don Priess (22:38):
are there any facilities that have taken this
on as a whole and said, Yes,this is the program we use, and
we use it with everyone who'shere is that Has that happened
yet?
Unknown (22:48):
It it has it's happening kind of as we speak,
we launched our most recentiteration just last month, and
so we actually took about amonth off because life was just
bottlenecking so much, we didn'trealize how much of a break we
needed to take. But the luckything was, over the last few
years, we've just been talkingwith so many people. We've made
so many affiliations andpartnerships that once we were
(23:10):
available, there were, first ofall, there were testing teams in
Texas and Ontario and Floridaand California that helped us
get it to the point where weweren't so nervous about pushing
it out as a launch. Once we didlaunch, we had some teams, some
hospices that took us on hospicein the Pines with Demetrius
Harold down in Lufkin, Texas.
Thank you very much. And Sierraboats, with Sierra boats memory
method out in Florida, and we'rejust trying to, they're
(23:33):
trickling in. We're doing we'vegot so many balls in the air
right now that we're trying todo so much. But luckily, yes,
we're finally at the point whereonboarding people and they're
enjoying
Susie Singer Carter (23:43):
the service. Ah, this is so great.
Ontario is doing some greatthings. You guys in Ontario are
the bomb. I just interviewedanother young guy. He's 35
Daniel Clark, who is also doingsome incredible things in this
space, not not in any way you'rewhat you're doing, but you know,
just helping, helping, you know,decipher how to choose a place
(24:05):
in a real way. You know,facilities without, you know,
the pay for play kind ofsituation that goes on and, and
he's so, he's so great, andhe's, he's in Ontario as well.
So I think it's, I think youguys, there must be some good
water, there compassion water,
Unknown (24:23):
right? We found the same thing about Connecticut. We
looked it up like Connecticut,not that big, but, man, the
caregiving power down there.
There's powerhouse ofcaregiving.
Susie Singer Carter (24:31):
There is good people there. I agree with
you. There's a there's more of afamily feel. Yeah, we have a
good friend who runs a filmfestival. Couple of them in it
there, right? Don Am I thinkingof who we speaking of? Oh no,
I'm thinking of Cleveland,talking
Don Priess (24:47):
about Cleveland, but they both start with people.
Unknown (24:52):
It's practically the same.
Don Priess (24:57):
Very much. Is, yeah.
So when. New the process as faras so you go to your the
platform that you're on, andthen it's just people, they're
filling in information,uploading what videos, music,
anything that they feel is, youknow, how does that process
work? Sure.
Unknown (25:14):
Well, once you've got your account set up, and then
you're kind of ready to capturesome stories, the subscriptions
are based on per story. Sodepending on how many stories
you want to capture, each storycan be titled. It can have 1000
words. So even if I'm justdescribing, you know, my
favorite copy, cup that I pickedup in Switzerland, you know,
some some train adventure orsomething, I can, I can take a
(25:35):
picture of it. Tell a big storyabout where, you know, I picked
it up from. I could put somelinks. If I knew where the
actual Potter came from, maybe Icould add a couple pictures, a
video recording and an audiorecording. So even though that
was just a souvenir that Ipicked up haphazardly on some
trip in Europe, that one littlestory can really be rounded out.
And when we get to somethingmore meaningful, like your
(25:58):
favorite five songs, you know,your favorite smells or your
favorite recipes. All of asudden we really start digging
into the memories and reallykind of make someone enjoy the
little things about life. Andso, yeah, we basically capture
whatever device you're workingon. You can capture the title,
the plot or the body of work,the links, two recordings of
(26:21):
audio, video and then threepictures. So we're hoping that
as people expand or theiraccounts and work on all these
stories, it's just kind of likethis grape vine of of treasures
and comforts for people
Susie Singer Carter (26:31):
that's so cool. I think it's like I just
instinctually wet as my mom losther her ability to articulate. I
kind of use those tools. So Iwould talk to her about things
she knew. And I there's in ourdocumentary, there's, you know,
there's, it opens on me,telling, telling her the story
of of Norma, right? Because,because, you know, and just in a
(26:53):
fun way, just like, you know,oh, this is my mom. She might
have heard of her. She startedsinging opera at nine years old,
right, right? And, and so shewould be like this. And, you
know, because if I told her allthese memories, but in a fun
way, that she would, it, would,it would, you know, what was the
tease out the cognitive right,like, as you said, and it does
(27:13):
work. It really does. It reallydoes. Because I want to say
that, like three months into hernot articulating at all. At one
point, I was doing my dog andpony show with Don was in the
room, and out of nowhere, my momjust leaned forward and went, I
love you like that, and justarticulated it perfectly. And,
(27:35):
and that was a gift that shegave me, because that's the last
thing that she ever said outloud, and, but, but that was I
gave her the chance. I just Ididn't you know. I gave her the
safety and and her feelings safeby even if she didn't remember I
was her daughter, although Ireminded her every time I walked
in, like, hi, it's me, yourdaughter. I'm here. Dada. Dada,
(27:56):
you know, because that's Ilearned that that's a good tool.
Don't make them try to figureout who you are. Tell them who
you are, sure.
Unknown (28:04):
Yeah. Oh, and it's been so humbling learning these exact
things from all the caregiversthat have helped us out. Like we
said, we this. We would not behere if it wasn't for the time
that caregivers offered us andthe advice and the experiences
like you just described there.
You know, we're kind of likebabes in the woods, and we don't
really, we didn't think we'd behere. So to have people help us
put it into focus makes a lot,you know, it means a lot to us.
Susie Singer Carter (28:28):
It's incredible. Because you really
didn't have any experience ascaregivers yet, right? Not yet.
No. Very interesting that youcame in and then, and did you, I
mean, I'm, did you haveexperience as app creators,
you're not taking at all. Our
Unknown (28:46):
family and friends were genuinely and rightfully
concerned for us when they heardthat we were trying to develop
an app, you know, they were, youknow. And then as it evolved and
it became more of like we'retrying to tell them, Oh, now
it's a person centric, nonpharmaceutical senior healthcare
tool. They're just like, whatare, where are you guys now? And
so, you know, it's we try tokeep them up to speed, but it's
(29:09):
been bewildering for all of us.
What a
Susie Singer Carter (29:12):
great origin story you guys. You guys
are, well, you're, you aremarried, right? Yeah, you're
married. Okay, I didn't I, yeah,she's
Don Priess (29:21):
a better brother and sister. I'm going with married.
Susie Singer Carter (29:25):
Yeah, so and you haven't really so, so
does. Does all this sort offreak you out because you
haven't been in the caregivingarena? How does that? How do you
feel about that? Because it isright. Yeah,
Unknown (29:43):
it's just it's actually been kind of a beautiful journey
to tell you the truth,terrifying.
To be honest, it kind of starteddriving itself at one point we
were calling it HERBIE, the lovebug, because especially once we
started talking. Talking topeople in the health community,
because it was just, you know,they would get so excited about
(30:04):
it and tell us what they thoughtit was, and then recommend us to
somebody else. So then we wouldtalk to them, and it was just,
it kept going and going, and wejust kind of let go, and we
followed it where it went. Andwe're just so grateful.
Susie Singer Carter (30:17):
What an orange I love your story. It's
so it's so awesome. It's justlike you were chosen to do this
somehow.
Unknown (30:26):
Yeah? Well, you know what? I mean, yeah, it's been,
it's been a roller coaster,really. There's been ups and
downs that we just didn't knowthe depth and scope of until we
kind of got into it. You know,at the end of 2021 all things
seem to be working out for us.
We had an international story,and had gotten all the attention
from all the caregivers in theworld, but our development team
had started to slide. They losta couple tech leads. Our project
(30:49):
was changing, trying to pivotwith the response that we got,
and they ended up not being ableto support us anymore. And then
Tan's father passed away, and hewas the kind of driving force.
He saw what echo box could be.
And so I think early in 2022 wewere pretty much dry docked, and
(31:09):
we didn't expect, we kind ofthought it was over, but there
was just enough of a responsefrom from caregivers around the
world, and we had been in touchwith a second development
company, enough that we kind ofthrew this one fishing line out
there and tried to get $100,000grant from the government, and
we got it, we got it, and wecouldn't believe it. It was
just, you know, one in amillion. And so the it just kept
(31:31):
it suddenly got back on track.
And now it's changed our lives.
It's, it's like a calling,pretty much, yeah,
Susie Singer Carter (31:36):
wow. It's that. It's amazing. I just am so
I love it because it's veryinspiring on so many levels that
you clearly are awesome humans.
You have heart. You have, like,amazing hearts. I mean,
honestly, like, I mean, I mean,yeah, okay. So we all, we all
want to be successful. And Ihope you, I pray you are
(31:58):
successful because you deserveit. So that comes, you know that
you should be renew, you know,have have renumeration for that,
but, but you are. You wouldn'tbe doing this. I don't think you
know, I don't see you as, youknow, greedy, awful people that
are trying to take advantage ofof, you know, people that are
vulnerable. It seemed, I feellike you're, genuine human
(32:19):
beings, and I appreciate that.
Unknown (32:24):
Thank you. I think our fault is, and we've been told
this by our development team,that we're hopelessly non money
driven, and it bites us in thebutt all the time, but I think
just again, with all the help ofall the people that have helped
steward this with us, that thatit's finding, it keeps finding
its feet over and over again,even though we fumble into the
(32:45):
next room. So, yes, well,because
Don Priess (32:47):
it works on every level, it really, it really
works on every level, becauseyou're, you're, you're really
providing for the personthemselves, the caregivers, the
facility. Everyone benefits fromthis, you know, by, you know,
taking the stress levels down, Iknow that just sometimes you you
would go in, especially whensomebody is non communicative,
(33:07):
and it's like, you go in andit's like, okay, I go in every
week. And what more is there to,you know, what more can we do?
What more can we say? Or, if anew carrier, what? What do I
say? And now that this takes somuch out of that, and it just
brings it. Because people, whoare they, they sense stress.
When somebody comes in andthey're stressed out, they sense
it, and that makes themstressed. And so to take that
(33:29):
away from everybody, it's just,it's a beautiful thing. It's
really wonderful.
Susie Singer Carter (33:34):
Thank you.
And by the way, Don and I, aswe're business partners, and
we've been best friends forever,and been in filmmaking we've
done, that's what we do. And weare, we are egregiously not
money driven. And it does, it'snot good. It's not we have to
change
Don Priess (33:50):
that. We really have to change that.
Susie Singer Carter (33:55):
We are no honestly and and, you know, I'm
on all levels, like I should beso much more I should be so much
more successful. We should berolling totally, I mean,
honestly, like, but, but, yeah,so I, I'm, I'm gonna say to you,
learn from from our mistakes,which were, you know, art, you
(34:18):
know it's for art. Well, do itfor free. No, it's okay to it's
okay to make you got it. It'sokay to make some money. It's
important. But what? So what ifwe left out that you would love
to have everyone know about whatyou're doing, how they can help,
whether they can support any orwords of wisdom. I mean, I think
(34:41):
you're so inspirational andaspirational in that you took an
idea that can be difficult. Imean, we do that with every
project we start, right? So I Isay, I'm going to do a
documentary about the nursinghome industry, and then it's
like, Okay, what did I getmyself into? We're talking two
years later, and I'm working 20.
Seven on it, right? And it's alot of work and stress and
(35:02):
everything else and but that'severy project. So you know, how
do you what? What is your whatdrives you, what? What words of
wisdom can you give somebodythat says, I have an amazing
idea. I know what's needed, andI want to do it, but I don't
know how.
Unknown (35:20):
Wow, wow. Keep with it.
We were in Florida and andJoshua Gervais, that was with
Sierra boats, asked us, youknow, what is this journey
taught you? You know, what haveyou learned from this? And
somehow, I meant, I just said,without even thinking about it,
how to take a punch, because youcan only go so far. I mean, you
get some good news, and then youand then it seems like you get
(35:40):
stonewalled, and you just haveto kind of keep the faith, and,
you know, keep a good track ofwhat what your idea is and what
you're trying to do. Don't beafraid to ask for help. I think
that's one of the one of ourworst things, is that don't say
no, yeah, don't, don't say no toanything. Throw spaghetti at
what. Throw Italian markets atwalls to see what sticks, not
(36:01):
just spaghetti and yeah, I mean,that's just worked for us. I
mean, we've, we've been thebeneficiary of 1000s of helping
hands. So, I mean, I don't knowhow to answer that question
truthfully, just from, from,without being in a position you
just did, yeah, but yeah,
Susie Singer Carter (36:20):
you just answered it. No, that's, that's
that that makes it takes 1000villages. It doesn't take one
village. It takes 1000 villagesfor something super important to
get done, right? And, andespecially when you're just, you
know, you're, you're, you'relearning how to to run as you
go, right? You're you, you'rejust doing it, and you're going
(36:41):
with your instinct and and alland everything that's driving
you, whatever it is, and and soyou have to believe in in your
initial idea and what youthought, why you even started
it, right? I mean, it doesn'tmean that you can't be
collaborative and learn fromother people, but you have to,
there's a certain amount oftrust you have to have in
(37:01):
yourself and in what you knowyou're capable of doing and and
I don't think there's two otherpeople to lead this, this, this
project, better than you twobecause of who you are. I don't
know you that well, but just Ihave good instincts on people,
and you are so super cool and sosuper heart driven, and, you
(37:27):
know, I don't imagine anyone notcheerleading for you.
Unknown (37:31):
Well, thank you. That means, that means a lot. And
yeah, I get, I guess we're just,we're just hoping that, you
know, this kind of resonateswith some members of your
audience, and the word spreads,and that it finds a purpose
among them, and the dominoeskeep falling. If anyone's, you
know, out there wanting to get ahold of us, we don bite, feel
free to get a hold of us. Youknow, I guess that's what we're
(37:54):
looking for right now, is justto spread the word and and for
people to see the promise in theservice well,
Susie Singer Carter (38:00):
that we can help you. We'll do the best we
can, where all your informationwill be on our on the show
notes, and they'll know how tofind you guys and to support and
to get you know and to benefitfrom your technology and your
idea, and to spread the word.
Just spread the way, if you likeit, then spread it, because
that's how things you know, get,get, get out there, and how they
(38:21):
grow and, you know, it, it isit? These are the things that
are important. These are theimportant things that we need
to, to put our attention on andreally help lift you guys. Put
some wind under your sails. So,because I know you're tired, I
get it. Do we
Unknown (38:45):
look tired? We are.
It's true. No,
Susie Singer Carter (38:49):
no, no, no, you don't look it at all. I'm
just saying I know how hard itis. It's a lot of
responsibility. You're pushing ayou're pushing that rock up the
hill. I get it, yeah, yeah. No,absolutely,
Unknown (39:00):
yeah. It is a lot of work. Even when we try to take
some time off, like, it's like agold goldfish in a little fish
bowl, it only takes 10 seconds.
And I'm, yeah, working onsomething else. And I'm like, I
thought I was going to watch theball game, but I guess not.
Susie Singer Carter (39:13):
Get you.
We're so, we're so, we're soulbrothers and sisters on that. So
I get it. That's why I say that.
Like you, you know, it all thehelp. Yes, yes, tennis. So don't
say no ever. Like, take all thehelp you can get, right?
Because, you know,
Unknown (39:27):
tennis herself has been a massive help. She was in the
library system for 20 yearsuntil echo box finally had to
pull her out of it because I waslike, Dan, I can't my water
table is so full, I kind of lostthe for a while.
Susie Singer Carter (39:40):
Oh, well, that's great. You guys are a
great team. I well, I know Ispeak for Don and I that we are
just really proud of you andcan't wait for this to be, you
know, fully embraced in everyfacility and every caregiver.
It's just like, part of it, youknow, it's like, the Yeah, well,
and, and then this is the. Echobox part you know, and you feel
(40:01):
that you know, it's justbecomes, you know, part of it.
So thank you for sharing yourstory with us. I really, really
am excited for you and sendingyou blessings and prayers that
everything goes you know, aswell as it can. And just stay,
stay lovely like you are. And Ijust think you're just a gift.
(40:23):
So thank you. Well,
Unknown (40:25):
thank you so much for the kind words and for having us
on. Yeah, Susie, Don thank youso much. Means the world to us.
Thank
Susie Singer Carter (40:31):
you. Loved it. We love this. We love
hearing this, right? Donald, asI do up for and
Don Priess (40:36):
that's because love is powerful, love is contagious,
and love conquers all. We thankeverybody for watching,
listening. Today, we'll have allthe information about the echo
box on our show notes and like,share, subscribe, do all those
things that we love you to doand we're gonna see you next
(40:58):
time on Love conquers all's Takecare everybody.
Unknown (41:02):
Bye, bye, thank you.
See ya.
Angela Fairhurst (41:13):
I'm Angela Fairhurst, founder of Jerry
gadgets, a revolutionarysolution for dementia, care
inspired by my personal journeycaring for my mother with
dementia, I developed patentedsensory tools that engage loved
ones, reduce anxiety and createjoyful moments without
medication, providing muchneeded relief for caregivers.
(41:34):
Jerry gadgets currently come inthree silicone buckets with
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tactile fidgets with more indevelopment. Each Jerry gadget
is designed to stimulate thesenses, fostering connection and
communication even at advancedstages of cognitive decline, non
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(41:56):
transform caregiving bypromoting engagement, improving
quality of life and offeringcaregivers a respite from
constant supervision. Discoverhow our innovative products can
bring joy and meaningfulinteraction to your loved ones
with dementia, while easing thecaregivers burden. Visit Jerry
gadgets.com to learn more andstart making every moment now,
Don Priess (42:19):
for a limited time, you can get 20% off your next
order of Jerry gadgets by goingto www.ss, www.com, Jerry
gadgets for dementia. You.
When the world has got you down, Alzheimer's sucks.
It's an equal opportunitydisease that chips away at
everything we hold dear and todate, there's no cure. So until
there is, we continue to fightwith the most powerful tool in
our arsenal, love. This is loveconquers all, a real and really
(00:22):
positive podcast that takes adeep dive into everything,
Alzheimer's, The Good, The Badand everything in between. And
now here are your hosts, Susiesinger Carter and me. Don
Priess, hi everybody. I'm Susiesinger Carter, and I'm Don
(00:43):
Priess, and this is Loveconquers all's Hello Susan,
Susie Singer Carter (00:48):
hi, Donald.
I'm not gonna ask how you are,because I know you're in bed
back. This
Don Priess (00:53):
is a this is a new position for me in our show.
Yeah, I'm so much better. But,yeah, I still can't sit so,
yeah, hence I'm laying back. Butso it's a little weird. But hey,
you do what you got to do,
Susie Singer Carter (01:11):
yeah, well, at least you're not moaning, oh
my god, like you were right.
Don Priess (01:17):
It was, it was, it was, I mean, I've had bad backs
my whole life. There was nothingeven similar to this. This was,
yeah, yeah. This was horrendous.
And, but so like I say, I can, Ican walk again, I can actually
stand for a little bit and justsitting. That's, that's the
worst. So,
Susie Singer Carter (01:39):
yay. Yeah, so don't get me started. Don't
get me started. Our next podcastall our ailments, we're going to
talk about them all. Don't getus started. It could last a
week. Anyway, I was thinkingabout, I don't know what
(01:59):
triggered this, but I wasthinking about the fact that
when you go, when I was going tolook for a place for my mom,
when I had to move her out of myhouse, and I was thinking about
all the pomp and circumstance,right? That when you go from
from facility to facility, andinitially you're horrified, and
then your bar gets lower, you'relike, Oh, well, this one's not
(02:21):
that bad. This one's okay, thisone's right. And then you can
land on a place that you thinkis like, this is it? This is
this, I feel good about data.
And then starts the up intake.
And you know, they you'refilling out all this stuff and
all the paperwork and and Iremember specifically filling
(02:43):
out kind of an info sheet on mymom, right, like about what is,
does she like? Music? Does shelike, you know, movies, what
kind does what kind of food doesshe like? What's her background,
what, you know, where does shecome? You know, all these kinds
of things, which I thought, oh,that's, that's nice. Like
(03:03):
they're actually asking me aboutmom, and they're going to
actually, you know, use thisinformation and and, lo and
behold, that didn't happen.
Like, nobody knew anything aboutmy mom, right? Like, not
nothing. Like zero, like I wouldsay today, like I'd play mom's
music, that, you know, herrecordings, and they'd go, wow,
(03:25):
who's singing? I go, what momis? That's her, you know. And it
didn't know anything. And it andin it happened with the social
worker who came when mom went,was going into palliative
nobody, like they asked me soall this stuff, and I'm and at
that point I was like, a jaded,you know, pro, so I'm like,
(03:47):
Yeah, okay, like, I'll just gothrough it, because I knew no
one was going to even payattention. And that's such a
problem. It that that, becausewhat it does is, like, it
dehumanizes everybody, right? Sothere's no, there's no
connection to these humans as aspeople, but just bed fillers or
(04:09):
chair fillers or room fillers.
So it's a big problem, and andwe have some guests today that
are going to have a solution tothis horrible problem, because
it really is a problem. I mean,if you, if you don't, if you're
(04:33):
not recognized, like, can I justtell a quick story one of my
colleagues in Australia, MoniquePok who is is part of open the
doors, which is a big it's a biginternational organization for
quality of living, for demandpeople with dementia and
Alzheimer's and others, right?
And she was visiting. She wrotethis in on LinkedIn today. She
(04:56):
was like, there was she went tovisit. Her dad and and they were
having a lovely time, and at onepoint she just said, you know,
Dad, I love you, right? And hesaid, I love you too. You see
me. You see me. That's sobeautiful, right? Like that just
gets you in the heart, because,and, and in fact, she does see
(05:17):
him. And how important is thatto be seen as As for who you
are?
Don Priess (05:26):
Because people forget, people forget who you
were and and people who neverknew you don't know at all,
don't
Susie Singer Carter (05:34):
know so to have, but for him to have, for
him to actually verbalize thatand say, You see me, that tells
you right there, how importantit is for all of us to we all
want to be seen, how importantit is for him to say that to his
daughter, that I love you too.
You see me, I get chills, justlike it makes me cry. Anyway, I
(05:55):
are our guest today. They getthat. They get it. And why don't
you introduce them? Don theywill
Don Priess (06:05):
our guests today, they saw a need, and they did
something about it. And let metell you a little bit more about
them. Tim and Tannis Roberts arethe driving force behind the
newest person centric approachin healthcare, Echo, box, memory
vault, a remarkable innovationthat is transforming the way we
connect and communicate with ourloved ones, especially for
(06:26):
families touched by Alzheimer's,Echo box makes connections,
creates legacies, informs careteams, streamlines daily
routines, encourages engagementand offers a place to tell life
Stories. Simply put, the betterwe know somebody, the better
care we can provide for them.
Tim and Tannis are here to sharetheir story the mission behind
(06:46):
echo box and how this groundbreaking technology is making a
meaningful difference incaregiving. So let's not wait
another moment and say hello toTim and Tannis Roberts, Hello,
guys, hello.
Unknown (07:00):
Thank you so much for having us.
Excellent. Oh, it's lovely tohave you. Yeah, it's amazing to
be here. Thank you so much forhaving us on you know, this is,
this is what it takes. We'retrying to get the word out, and
we think we're onto something,and so we couldn't be more happy
to be on the show. Thank you, ofcourse,
Susie Singer Carter (07:18):
of course, we're happy to have you. Yeah, I
it's funny. I was reading someof the information that you sent
to us, right? And, and you said,though this, this idea started
with a doodle, right? Yeah, andI love that. That's because, for
(07:39):
me as a filmmaker like I justwant to see you doodling it
right, and see what that doodlelook like, but, but there's
something behind the doodle, oryou know that either you knew it
or not, that doodle wasmotivated by something that you
know either you recognized oryou know you were or you Already
(08:00):
you already knew. So why do youtell us? I'm interested in how
you how this came about. Youknow, I think all good, good,
good changes come about frompersonal experience,
Unknown (08:12):
right? Well, I guess it goes back to 2016 Believe it or
not, I saw a video about agentleman who lost his wife and
used the sound of her voice onthe answering machine as a
source of comfort to just gethim up and going during the day,
when he was feeling sad orsentimental, you know. And
unfortunately, his serviceprovider had to upgrade their
(08:33):
system, which meant he lost thatrecording. And so the video I
saw actually showed the teamfinding the recording and giving
it back to him, and it was sucha powerful, emotional sort of
moment that it kind of got ussitting back thinking, what
options do seniors possiblyreally have right now that, you
know, aren't riddled withproblems of their own, whether
(08:54):
it's privacy concerns or justfamiliarity with technology. And
so we kind of thought, you know,there might be a need for for a
technology for families,initially, that could capture,
you know, grandpa and grandma'sfavorite fishing holes and
recipes and childhood stories,things that just are fleeting,
but just once they're gone,they're gone. And our pilot
(09:17):
model just just kind of took offon us. We we launched in 2020,
and we got some local news thatwent national, here in Canada,
and then it went international,the BBC to kind of cover story,
or not a cover story, I guess, afollow up story on Stan Beaton
and how he had inspired sometechnology. And so we kind of
thought we were doing and whatwe knew what we were doing. And
(09:38):
we thought, you know, the rosecolored glasses were on, but was
through. What was reallyinteresting was that the global
response just was overwhelminglyobviously coming from
caregiving, specificallyDementia Care, Alzheimer's care,
palliative care, special needs,children, music therapy, speech.
(10:00):
We couldn't even it was sodistracting at first, we we
thought, Well, that's nice, thatit can help in these realms. But
we didn't really see theevolution that was before us and
what would happen in the nextfour years that brought us to
where we're at now. So I thinkthat was kind of our
inspiration. Story was just thatbasic, sort of those feelings
that you're you're mentioningthere just the you know, the
(10:22):
loving sense of connection whenyou understand, you know,
someone recognizes that they'rebeing seen, or a little job that
you that's something fleeting,and you know at the moment, it
might not seem all thatmeaningful, but boy, these
little packets and treasuressure carry a lot of emotion, and
they do us a lot of good in thelong run.
Susie Singer Carter (10:40):
Absolutely, they're so powerful, right? I
mean, I remember making a bookfor my mom. I didn't know
anything about Alzheimer's, andwhen she moved in with me for a
year, I did, like when the applebook an apple my Mac, you could
make a book with pictures. Andso I did the story of lovey,
that was her nickname, and Istarted from babyhood all the
(11:00):
way to present at that time, sothat she could look at it, you
know, and and remember allthose, you know, the the long
term memories, like hergrandparents and and all that
you know, which was, was, it wasgreat, you know, but, but by the
way, it got worn and torn. Itgot, you know, from overuse.
(11:20):
Because it was about eight yearsbefore she passed in two years
ago, but it was like eight yearsbefore that. So it's also
difficult, once they're notliving with you, to get other
people to take the time to toreally know the person that
they're working with. And so howdoes, how does the echo box help
(11:41):
the caregivers?
Unknown (11:44):
Sure, trying to take this one, sure? Well, I guess at
a family level, Echo box, it canwork as more like a legacy
piece, right, collecting all ofthe favorite stories, recipes,
anything about that they love,about life, and then when you
move into more Let's care teams,it can work as a way to
(12:05):
familiarize yourself with theindividual, and you can use it
kind of as a helpful tool, like,if they're having a bad day,
well, we've got the musicsection so you can take on that
and then play their favoritesong, or you can learn about
what their favorite meal is.
Yeah,we're kind of, we're discovering
more. The more we talk tocaregivers, the more they kind
of inform us on what it can do.
(12:27):
They're saying that it can, itcan maintain and tease out the
cognitive function of peoplethat are sort of declining in
their verbal, you know, whatthey want to express. Once
people have have kind of, youknow, gone through their
Alzheimer's or dementia journeyand they're no longer expressing
what they love. If they had anecho box that listed off their
favorite songs and colors andscents, then we can it goes a
(12:49):
long way to make sure that we'remaintaining the quality of life
and for the caregivers. Youknow, we've heard that there's a
often, there's times there's arotating door, there's a lot of
caregivers that switchfacilities, and there's a lot
for them to do and to to try totake on all at once. And once
again, they're telling us that,boy, if, if we had a little echo
box, it would be like a cheatsheet for everyone to genuinely
(13:09):
not just kind of read that theylike music, but what music they
like from what genre they like,they'll have a link to actually
play that music. So, you know,it really in one we heard a
wonderful story from fromsomeone we couldn't help, but we
put it right onto our website.
Actually, it was a senior carespecialist, and she said she was
describing a team that had an APerth, a resident that was very
(13:30):
abject to being told to go tobed. So if it was around
bedtime, you had to be verycareful about how you address
bedtime. And as soon as he kindof caught word that it was going
to be bedtime, that his dug hisheels in. And one day the mash
song came up, and the theme songfor mash just kind of came into
the room, and he stood up and hesaid, Oh, mash is on time for
bed everybody. And he said, Goodnight to everybody. And he got
(13:52):
ready for bed. And so the careteam just they couldn't believe
it, and so they were jottingthis down. And they never played
that during the day. They playedit at night when he was having
trouble grieving. So that's justone example, but if we kind of
expand that general idea tocover all of the senses and all
of the little things that welove about life that makes us
tick, then I can't imagine mepicturing my mom or my dad on
(14:15):
the other side of the countrynot appreciating the fact that
his care team has all theselittle things that he loves
about life, whether he canexpress them or not, as
Susie Singer Carter (14:25):
beautiful.
It makes one of you weretalking. It made me think about,
you know, when, when we go, andwhen you watch a doctor go onto
the the computer screen andlooking at your records, right?
It's a it should be in therecords. It should be like, you
know, part of echo box should belike, Oh, okay. And then it's
this, okay, I see you like this,and I see you like that. Oh, you
come from Cleveland. That's, youknow, I have family there,
(14:48):
whatever. I mean it because,because that is part of care.
It's not just medical, right?
So, so it is, be, it is thatpart of a. The whole person
Don Priess (15:01):
a more important part of care, if one could say,
and that medical is to keep youliving, but you're not, you
know, if there's no life live,there's you need you. I mean,
what are we living for if wedon't have those things we can
enjoy and share?
Unknown (15:16):
Absolutely, we've been told that we are, you know, and
this just, it raises the hair onmy arms. But people tell us
that, oh, you know, you're goingto fill the gap. This is a
person centric approach to care.
You're going to elevate qualityof life and life, you're going
to enrich lives. And, you know,we thought we were just kind of
creating a digital legacy, adigital legacy like, like a, you
know, on a photo album withwords and a recording or two. We
(15:38):
didn't realize this applicationcould be used as a tool, not
like you're saying in themedical sense, but in all of
these person centric ways thatreally make us tick. We're just
really surprised and fortunate.
I think that there's room for atechnology to we've been told
that there's a gap big enough inthe market, that there's a
(15:59):
market in the gap, and we'rejust the first ones in. We're
kind of, you know, we're kindof, that, would that's nice, but
we're coming from a place where,you know, we didn't see this
coming. We didn't, we're not, wedon't have a health care
background. We aren't, you know,business tycoons by any sense.
And we are not tech savvy. We'renot tech savvy. So, you know,
we're in the deep end threetimes over. But it's just the
(16:20):
virtue of the idea itself keepsus just hanging on to the
coattails. And so here we are.
Yes, so
Don Priess (16:26):
where does the technology sit? Where does it
meaning that, okay, you're at afacility, or, you know, you're
3000 miles away, your father'sat a facility. Is it a something
physical? Is it on a phone? Isit on a tablet? And, you know,
how do you get if the facilitydoesn't have the that tablet,
what do you do? How does itwork? Technically?
Unknown (16:47):
Right? Well, one of the great things we discovered is
that there's technologies outthere kind of like us not doing
the exact same thing, but youhave to buy their devices. You
have to buy their tablets, theirscreens, all of their, you know,
their gadgets proprietary. Wethought, boy, well, we just
snuck in the back door and wemade an application. You can
find us online. You go straightto echo box.ca you've figured
(17:09):
you can read all about us, andthen there's a free you can join
for free, so you can check usout before you make any
decisions. If you think echo boxis the right choice for your
caregiving situation, whetheryou're at home telling your own
story. I love taking care of aloved one, or whether you run a
small business or a CEO of alarge corporation, you can, you
know, choose an adequatesubscription for your caregiving
(17:30):
environment, and then just gofrom there. It's a simple
process of filling out somecaregivers in your account. They
get invited automatically byemail, and then you can just
start going to work and capturestories for the people that are
in your care, andthe caregivers will have that on
their phone or their tablets asthey go, right. Okay, so
Don Priess (17:47):
the facility would have to have somebody there with
a phone or a tablet to sharethat with, with the individual,
Unknown (17:56):
with the individual.
Yeah, the great idea is, whoeverlikes the whoever likes echo box
as a service would sign us up,and then the people that get
invited through those emailswould now have a chance to join
the application side, and so allof their devices would have that
information. So if I wasspeaking with Stanley in the
morning and I entered somethingabout how he loves 50s cowboy
movies, Tannis that came in thatnight opened up in Echo box, she
(18:19):
would see that entry in hersystem. So the network just
goes, it's private, it's withinhouse, but at the same time it's
it's shared between everybody,
Susie Singer Carter (18:28):
right? I think you should, guys should,
you should pitch it. Okay? I'mjust saying you should pitch it
to as as part of the program ofevery facility like that should
be mandatory that everybodytheir medical records and their
and their historical recordsneed to be part of their their
records in whole. Why not?
Because they ask you, like Isaid in the opening, they ask
(18:51):
you this information, but nobodylooks at it because it's on a
piece of paper or, you know, ona PDF somewhere hidden away,
nobody's going to look at it. Itshould be, it should be co
mingled into your chart.
Absolutely,
Unknown (19:07):
absolutely. And these needs assessment forms and these
intake forms, we've just beentold like they mean well, but
they go into a filing cabinetand they never see the light of
day again. I'm
Susie Singer Carter (19:17):
proof. I'm telling you. I'm right, you
know. And I'm an advocate, canyou can imagine, with someone
who doesn't have an advocate,and for the voiceless people
that don't have a voice, youknow, and I mean, literally,
don't have a voice, because mymom got to the point where she
couldn't articulate verbally,she could articulate other ways,
like, you know, like we do whenwe lose certain abilities, we
(19:40):
compensate, but no one waslooking again, the concept of
being seen, and of course, theydon't have the time. That's a
whole nother story. Hello, NoCountry for Old people. That's
why I'm doing the documentary.
But that that, in the meantime,make it easy on the caregivers
that are there, that. Easy.
(20:01):
That's easy, and it helps themto say, you know, oh, this woman
doesn't speak English. Oh, nowonder she's not responding to
me, right?
Unknown (20:11):
I mean, I think it's a great diffuser. I mean, what a
crime it is to that some ofthese people just ended up being
called like the scratcher or thebiter, because what they have
left to them is to them is tojust defend themselves and try
to defend their comfort. Andthat's the only way
Susie Singer Carter (20:25):
they can communicate, right? Tim, I mean,
that's their way ofcommunication. I mean, there's a
great one of our one of ourheroes, Al power, who speaks all
the time, all over the world onAlzheimer's, is a geriatrician,
geriatologist, rather, and he'sbrilliant. And he says, you
know, when people lose theirarticulation, they are still
communicating to you, but noone's really taking heed, right?
(20:47):
So they're these do. It's like,Oh, that hurts. You would say
that hurts someone else thatcan't. So they, they they push,
they bite, they do whatever theycan to make it stop.
Unknown (20:59):
That's right, absolutely. And of course, as a
caregiver, that must befrustrating. And so it's just
from both ends. It's just like anegative feedback loop, whereas
it I mean, and this isn'tsomething that we meant to do,
these people have told us thatwe stumbled into having kind of
lightning in a bottle here. Butif we can somehow kind of tease
out the better halves of both ofthose sides of things and create
(21:22):
a winning solution foreverybody. I think that's kind
of the Win. Win that familiesare looking for in senior care
is just to know that my lovedone is in good hands and you
know, and they're notoverburdening the that caring
team that's trying to providethe best for them. So we'll
Don Priess (21:38):
be right back.
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Don Priess (22:38):
are there any facilities that have taken this
on as a whole and said, Yes,this is the program we use, and
we use it with everyone who'shere is that Has that happened
yet?
Unknown (22:48):
It it has it's happening kind of as we speak,
we launched our most recentiteration just last month, and
so we actually took about amonth off because life was just
bottlenecking so much, we didn'trealize how much of a break we
needed to take. But the luckything was, over the last few
years, we've just been talkingwith so many people. We've made
so many affiliations andpartnerships that once we were
(23:10):
available, there were, first ofall, there were testing teams in
Texas and Ontario and Floridaand California that helped us
get it to the point where weweren't so nervous about pushing
it out as a launch. Once we didlaunch, we had some teams, some
hospices that took us on hospicein the Pines with Demetrius
Harold down in Lufkin, Texas.
Thank you very much. And Sierraboats, with Sierra boats memory
method out in Florida, and we'rejust trying to, they're
(23:33):
trickling in. We're doing we'vegot so many balls in the air
right now that we're trying todo so much. But luckily, yes,
we're finally at the point whereonboarding people and they're
enjoying
Susie Singer Carter (23:43):
the service. Ah, this is so great.
Ontario is doing some greatthings. You guys in Ontario are
the bomb. I just interviewedanother young guy. He's 35
Daniel Clark, who is also doingsome incredible things in this
space, not not in any way you'rewhat you're doing, but you know,
just helping, helping, you know,decipher how to choose a place
(24:05):
in a real way. You know,facilities without, you know,
the pay for play kind ofsituation that goes on and, and
he's so, he's so great, andhe's, he's in Ontario as well.
So I think it's, I think youguys, there must be some good
water, there compassion water,
Unknown (24:23):
right? We found the same thing about Connecticut. We
looked it up like Connecticut,not that big, but, man, the
caregiving power down there.
There's powerhouse ofcaregiving.
Susie Singer Carter (24:31):
There is good people there. I agree with
you. There's a there's more of afamily feel. Yeah, we have a
good friend who runs a filmfestival. Couple of them in it
there, right? Don Am I thinkingof who we speaking of? Oh no,
I'm thinking of Cleveland,talking
Don Priess (24:47):
about Cleveland, but they both start with people.
Unknown (24:52):
It's practically the same.
Don Priess (24:57):
Very much. Is, yeah.
So when. New the process as faras so you go to your the
platform that you're on, andthen it's just people, they're
filling in information,uploading what videos, music,
anything that they feel is, youknow, how does that process
work? Sure.
Unknown (25:14):
Well, once you've got your account set up, and then
you're kind of ready to capturesome stories, the subscriptions
are based on per story. Sodepending on how many stories
you want to capture, each storycan be titled. It can have 1000
words. So even if I'm justdescribing, you know, my
favorite copy, cup that I pickedup in Switzerland, you know,
some some train adventure orsomething, I can, I can take a
(25:35):
picture of it. Tell a big storyabout where, you know, I picked
it up from. I could put somelinks. If I knew where the
actual Potter came from, maybe Icould add a couple pictures, a
video recording and an audiorecording. So even though that
was just a souvenir that Ipicked up haphazardly on some
trip in Europe, that one littlestory can really be rounded out.
And when we get to somethingmore meaningful, like your
(25:58):
favorite five songs, you know,your favorite smells or your
favorite recipes. All of asudden we really start digging
into the memories and reallykind of make someone enjoy the
little things about life. Andso, yeah, we basically capture
whatever device you're workingon. You can capture the title,
the plot or the body of work,the links, two recordings of
(26:21):
audio, video and then threepictures. So we're hoping that
as people expand or theiraccounts and work on all these
stories, it's just kind of likethis grape vine of of treasures
and comforts for people
Susie Singer Carter (26:31):
that's so cool. I think it's like I just
instinctually wet as my mom losther her ability to articulate. I
kind of use those tools. So Iwould talk to her about things
she knew. And I there's in ourdocumentary, there's, you know,
there's, it opens on me,telling, telling her the story
of of Norma, right? Because,because, you know, and just in a
(26:53):
fun way, just like, you know,oh, this is my mom. She might
have heard of her. She startedsinging opera at nine years old,
right, right? And, and so shewould be like this. And, you
know, because if I told her allthese memories, but in a fun
way, that she would, it, would,it would, you know, what was the
tease out the cognitive right,like, as you said, and it does
(27:13):
work. It really does. It reallydoes. Because I want to say
that, like three months into hernot articulating at all. At one
point, I was doing my dog andpony show with Don was in the
room, and out of nowhere, my momjust leaned forward and went, I
love you like that, and justarticulated it perfectly. And,
(27:35):
and that was a gift that shegave me, because that's the last
thing that she ever said outloud, and, but, but that was I
gave her the chance. I just Ididn't you know. I gave her the
safety and and her feelings safeby even if she didn't remember I
was her daughter, although Ireminded her every time I walked
in, like, hi, it's me, yourdaughter. I'm here. Dada. Dada,
(27:56):
you know, because that's Ilearned that that's a good tool.
Don't make them try to figureout who you are. Tell them who
you are, sure.
Unknown (28:04):
Yeah. Oh, and it's been so humbling learning these exact
things from all the caregiversthat have helped us out. Like we
said, we this. We would not behere if it wasn't for the time
that caregivers offered us andthe advice and the experiences
like you just described there.
You know, we're kind of likebabes in the woods, and we don't
really, we didn't think we'd behere. So to have people help us
put it into focus makes a lot,you know, it means a lot to us.
Susie Singer Carter (28:28):
It's incredible. Because you really
didn't have any experience ascaregivers yet, right? Not yet.
No. Very interesting that youcame in and then, and did you, I
mean, I'm, did you haveexperience as app creators,
you're not taking at all. Our
Unknown (28:46):
family and friends were genuinely and rightfully
concerned for us when they heardthat we were trying to develop
an app, you know, they were, youknow. And then as it evolved and
it became more of like we'retrying to tell them, Oh, now
it's a person centric, nonpharmaceutical senior healthcare
tool. They're just like, whatare, where are you guys now? And
so, you know, it's we try tokeep them up to speed, but it's
(29:09):
been bewildering for all of us.
What a
Susie Singer Carter (29:12):
great origin story you guys. You guys
are, well, you're, you aremarried, right? Yeah, you're
married. Okay, I didn't I, yeah,she's
Don Priess (29:21):
a better brother and sister. I'm going with married.
Susie Singer Carter (29:25):
Yeah, so and you haven't really so, so
does. Does all this sort offreak you out because you
haven't been in the caregivingarena? How does that? How do you
feel about that? Because it isright. Yeah,
Unknown (29:43):
it's just it's actually been kind of a beautiful journey
to tell you the truth,terrifying.
To be honest, it kind of starteddriving itself at one point we
were calling it HERBIE, the lovebug, because especially once we
started talking. Talking topeople in the health community,
because it was just, you know,they would get so excited about
(30:04):
it and tell us what they thoughtit was, and then recommend us to
somebody else. So then we wouldtalk to them, and it was just,
it kept going and going, and wejust kind of let go, and we
followed it where it went. Andwe're just so grateful.
Susie Singer Carter (30:17):
What an orange I love your story. It's
so it's so awesome. It's justlike you were chosen to do this
somehow.
Unknown (30:26):
Yeah? Well, you know what? I mean, yeah, it's been,
it's been a roller coaster,really. There's been ups and
downs that we just didn't knowthe depth and scope of until we
kind of got into it. You know,at the end of 2021 all things
seem to be working out for us.
We had an international story,and had gotten all the attention
from all the caregivers in theworld, but our development team
had started to slide. They losta couple tech leads. Our project
(30:49):
was changing, trying to pivotwith the response that we got,
and they ended up not being ableto support us anymore. And then
Tan's father passed away, and hewas the kind of driving force.
He saw what echo box could be.
And so I think early in 2022 wewere pretty much dry docked, and
(31:09):
we didn't expect, we kind ofthought it was over, but there
was just enough of a responsefrom from caregivers around the
world, and we had been in touchwith a second development
company, enough that we kind ofthrew this one fishing line out
there and tried to get $100,000grant from the government, and
we got it, we got it, and wecouldn't believe it. It was
just, you know, one in amillion. And so the it just kept
(31:31):
it suddenly got back on track.
And now it's changed our lives.
It's, it's like a calling,pretty much, yeah,
Susie Singer Carter (31:36):
wow. It's that. It's amazing. I just am so
I love it because it's veryinspiring on so many levels that
you clearly are awesome humans.
You have heart. You have, like,amazing hearts. I mean,
honestly, like, I mean, I mean,yeah, okay. So we all, we all
want to be successful. And Ihope you, I pray you are
(31:58):
successful because you deserveit. So that comes, you know that
you should be renew, you know,have have renumeration for that,
but, but you are. You wouldn'tbe doing this. I don't think you
know, I don't see you as, youknow, greedy, awful people that
are trying to take advantage ofof, you know, people that are
vulnerable. It seemed, I feellike you're, genuine human
(32:19):
beings, and I appreciate that.
Unknown (32:24):
Thank you. I think our fault is, and we've been told
this by our development team,that we're hopelessly non money
driven, and it bites us in thebutt all the time, but I think
just again, with all the help ofall the people that have helped
steward this with us, that thatit's finding, it keeps finding
its feet over and over again,even though we fumble into the
(32:45):
next room. So, yes, well,because
Don Priess (32:47):
it works on every level, it really, it really
works on every level, becauseyou're, you're, you're really
providing for the personthemselves, the caregivers, the
facility. Everyone benefits fromthis, you know, by, you know,
taking the stress levels down, Iknow that just sometimes you you
would go in, especially whensomebody is non communicative,
(33:07):
and it's like, you go in andit's like, okay, I go in every
week. And what more is there to,you know, what more can we do?
What more can we say? Or, if anew carrier, what? What do I
say? And now that this takes somuch out of that, and it just
brings it. Because people, whoare they, they sense stress.
When somebody comes in andthey're stressed out, they sense
it, and that makes themstressed. And so to take that
(33:29):
away from everybody, it's just,it's a beautiful thing. It's
really wonderful.
Susie Singer Carter (33:34):
Thank you.
And by the way, Don and I, aswe're business partners, and
we've been best friends forever,and been in filmmaking we've
done, that's what we do. And weare, we are egregiously not
money driven. And it does, it'snot good. It's not we have to
change
Don Priess (33:50):
that. We really have to change that.
Susie Singer Carter (33:55):
We are no honestly and and, you know, I'm
on all levels, like I should beso much more I should be so much
more successful. We should berolling totally, I mean,
honestly, like, but, but, yeah,so I, I'm, I'm gonna say to you,
learn from from our mistakes,which were, you know, art, you
(34:18):
know it's for art. Well, do itfor free. No, it's okay to it's
okay to make you got it. It'sokay to make some money. It's
important. But what? So what ifwe left out that you would love
to have everyone know about whatyou're doing, how they can help,
whether they can support any orwords of wisdom. I mean, I think
(34:41):
you're so inspirational andaspirational in that you took an
idea that can be difficult. Imean, we do that with every
project we start, right? So I Isay, I'm going to do a
documentary about the nursinghome industry, and then it's
like, Okay, what did I getmyself into? We're talking two
years later, and I'm working 20.
Seven on it, right? And it's alot of work and stress and
(35:02):
everything else and but that'severy project. So you know, how
do you what? What is your whatdrives you, what? What words of
wisdom can you give somebodythat says, I have an amazing
idea. I know what's needed, andI want to do it, but I don't
know how.
Unknown (35:20):
Wow, wow. Keep with it.
We were in Florida and andJoshua Gervais, that was with
Sierra boats, asked us, youknow, what is this journey
taught you? You know, what haveyou learned from this? And
somehow, I meant, I just said,without even thinking about it,
how to take a punch, because youcan only go so far. I mean, you
get some good news, and then youand then it seems like you get
(35:40):
stonewalled, and you just haveto kind of keep the faith, and,
you know, keep a good track ofwhat what your idea is and what
you're trying to do. Don't beafraid to ask for help. I think
that's one of the one of ourworst things, is that don't say
no, yeah, don't, don't say no toanything. Throw spaghetti at
what. Throw Italian markets atwalls to see what sticks, not
(36:01):
just spaghetti and yeah, I mean,that's just worked for us. I
mean, we've, we've been thebeneficiary of 1000s of helping
hands. So, I mean, I don't knowhow to answer that question
truthfully, just from, from,without being in a position you
just did, yeah, but yeah,
Susie Singer Carter (36:20):
you just answered it. No, that's, that's
that that makes it takes 1000villages. It doesn't take one
village. It takes 1000 villagesfor something super important to
get done, right? And, andespecially when you're just, you
know, you're, you're, you'relearning how to to run as you
go, right? You're you, you'rejust doing it, and you're going
(36:41):
with your instinct and and alland everything that's driving
you, whatever it is, and and soyou have to believe in in your
initial idea and what youthought, why you even started
it, right? I mean, it doesn'tmean that you can't be
collaborative and learn fromother people, but you have to,
there's a certain amount oftrust you have to have in
(37:01):
yourself and in what you knowyou're capable of doing and and
I don't think there's two otherpeople to lead this, this, this
project, better than you twobecause of who you are. I don't
know you that well, but just Ihave good instincts on people,
and you are so super cool and sosuper heart driven, and, you
(37:27):
know, I don't imagine anyone notcheerleading for you.
Unknown (37:31):
Well, thank you. That means, that means a lot. And
yeah, I get, I guess we're just,we're just hoping that, you
know, this kind of resonateswith some members of your
audience, and the word spreads,and that it finds a purpose
among them, and the dominoeskeep falling. If anyone's, you
know, out there wanting to get ahold of us, we don bite, feel
free to get a hold of us. Youknow, I guess that's what we're
(37:54):
looking for right now, is justto spread the word and and for
people to see the promise in theservice well,
Susie Singer Carter (38:00):
that we can help you. We'll do the best we
can, where all your informationwill be on our on the show
notes, and they'll know how tofind you guys and to support and
to get you know and to benefitfrom your technology and your
idea, and to spread the word.
Just spread the way, if you likeit, then spread it, because
that's how things you know, get,get, get out there, and how they
(38:21):
grow and, you know, it, it isit? These are the things that
are important. These are theimportant things that we need
to, to put our attention on andreally help lift you guys. Put
some wind under your sails. So,because I know you're tired, I
get it. Do we
Unknown (38:45):
look tired? We are.
It's true. No,
Susie Singer Carter (38:49):
no, no, no, you don't look it at all. I'm
just saying I know how hard itis. It's a lot of
responsibility. You're pushing ayou're pushing that rock up the
hill. I get it, yeah, yeah. No,absolutely,
Unknown (39:00):
yeah. It is a lot of work. Even when we try to take
some time off, like, it's like agold goldfish in a little fish
bowl, it only takes 10 seconds.
And I'm, yeah, working onsomething else. And I'm like, I
thought I was going to watch theball game, but I guess not.
Susie Singer Carter (39:13):
Get you.
We're so, we're so, we're soulbrothers and sisters on that. So
I get it. That's why I say that.
Like you, you know, it all thehelp. Yes, yes, tennis. So don't
say no ever. Like, take all thehelp you can get, right?
Because, you know,
Unknown (39:27):
tennis herself has been a massive help. She was in the
library system for 20 yearsuntil echo box finally had to
pull her out of it because I waslike, Dan, I can't my water
table is so full, I kind of lostthe for a while.
Susie Singer Carter (39:40):
Oh, well, that's great. You guys are a
great team. I well, I know Ispeak for Don and I that we are
just really proud of you andcan't wait for this to be, you
know, fully embraced in everyfacility and every caregiver.
It's just like, part of it, youknow, it's like, the Yeah, well,
and, and then this is the. Echobox part you know, and you feel
(40:01):
that you know, it's justbecomes, you know, part of it.
So thank you for sharing yourstory with us. I really, really
am excited for you and sendingyou blessings and prayers that
everything goes you know, aswell as it can. And just stay,
stay lovely like you are. And Ijust think you're just a gift.
(40:23):
So thank you. Well,
Unknown (40:25):
thank you so much for the kind words and for having us
on. Yeah, Susie, Don thank youso much. Means the world to us.
Thank
Susie Singer Carter (40:31):
you. Loved it. We love this. We love
hearing this, right? Donald, asI do up for and
Don Priess (40:36):
that's because love is powerful, love is contagious,
and love conquers all. We thankeverybody for watching,
listening. Today, we'll have allthe information about the echo
box on our show notes and like,share, subscribe, do all those
things that we love you to doand we're gonna see you next
(40:58):
time on Love conquers all's Takecare everybody.
Unknown (41:02):
Bye, bye, thank you.
See ya.
Angela Fairhurst (41:13):
I'm Angela Fairhurst, founder of Jerry
gadgets, a revolutionarysolution for dementia, care
inspired by my personal journeycaring for my mother with
dementia, I developed patentedsensory tools that engage loved
ones, reduce anxiety and createjoyful moments without
medication, providing muchneeded relief for caregivers.
(41:34):
Jerry gadgets currently come inthree silicone buckets with
activities like flowerarranging, shape sorting and
tactile fidgets with more indevelopment. Each Jerry gadget
is designed to stimulate thesenses, fostering connection and
communication even at advancedstages of cognitive decline, non
toxic, built to last anddishwasher safe. Jerry gadgets
(41:56):
transform caregiving bypromoting engagement, improving
quality of life and offeringcaregivers a respite from
constant supervision. Discoverhow our innovative products can
bring joy and meaningfulinteraction to your loved ones
with dementia, while easing thecaregivers burden. Visit Jerry
gadgets.com to learn more andstart making every moment now,
Don Priess (42:19):
for a limited time, you can get 20% off your next
order of Jerry gadgets by goingto www.ss, www.com, Jerry
gadgets for dementia. You.
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