The company has partnered with Agewell, a professional managed care organization serving the state of New York.
VR and its effects on various health conditions have been studied for over 20 years. This includes behavioral health issues such as anxiety, depression and addiction. Not much research has been done on how this technology could help older people. the country is rapid aging: By 2060, nearly one in four Americans will be over the age of 65, the number of people over the age of 85 will triple, and the nation will have 500,000 more centenarians.
“Not many researchers have looked at the elderly in the last 25 years. This is, frankly, a symptom of a larger situation in our society that overlooks elderly care in general.” said founder and CEO Chris Brickler. Mynd VRis a provider of VR-based digital therapeutic experiences designed for the aging population, told VatorNews.
This population, thanks to isolation, is at particularly high risk of anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, and even an increased risk of death, a problem that has always been highlighted by the pandemic.
“In the United States alone, tens of thousands of baby boomers turn 65 every day. Since then, families and caregivers are grappling with a holistic problem, especially in new areas of care related to things like dementia and Parkinson’s disease, and we believe VR can help solve that problem,” he said. I was.
“Finally, another big problem, if you want to call it a problem, is that people are living longer. This has greatly increased the need for occupational therapy and rehabilitation.”
The company’s mission is to get its products into the hands of as many seniors as possible to help them through the decline, and now they can reach even more. Thanks to our newly announced partnership with AgeWell New York. This means MyndVR will be covered for the first time, as Virtual Reality Therapy sessions are now accessible to CareWell members.
AgeWell New York is a specialty managed care organization serving the Medicare and Medicaid population in the New York metropolitan area, including Bronx, Manhattan, Queens Brooklyn, Nassau, Westchester and Suffolk Counties.
“This is the first time VR has been included as a supplemental benefit covered by Medicare Advantage. Despite more than 1,000 clinical studies to date, this is the first time VR has entered Medicare Advantage, an instrument so vital to the health of older people in this country, with opioid addiction and so much more.” said Mr.
The company specifically chose to partner with Agewell because “their take on patient-centered care is second to none.”
“All this content that we’re building in our library, all the third-party content relationships that we’re doing, are all tied to certain conditions or signs that come with aging. Medicare Advantage like Agewell The plan must have a competitive advantage, and Agewell will be in a more competitive position because it’s more associated with Medicare Advantage plans than other Medicare Advantage plans,” said Brickler. said.
Founded in 2016, the company offers subscription bundles that include HTC Vive’s immersive glasses, along with licensed content from producers such as NatGeo, Discovery, and USA Today, as well as interactive content such as MyndVR originals. It also provides a tablet that drives the VR experience, so caregivers can take control of the VR menu system if they are unable to do so due to cognitive decline.
It also provides an activity calendar so that caregivers and all these healthcare settings can easily access the system to determine what is good to do for the elderly during the day.
For example, the company uses the medium of virtual reality to take seniors with dementia through the four walls of their room to a 1950s speakeasy jazz club, where they can watch their favorite band and listen to their favorite song. can be listened to together. A band playing tableside across a room of people in 1950s costumes.
“Using this science, we quickly discovered that aging minds have the capacity to do wonderful things.In this case, we don’t just add music, we add visuals to overall ideas and concepts. Adding an experiential element to the experience is the real reason we founded MyndVR – how it started as a music therapy application for seniors,” said Brickler.
The company primarily markets to senior care settings such as continuing care retirement communities. Assisted Living, Advanced Nursing, and Memory Care Settings.
“These people really need comfort and connection with the outside world. For example, bringing MyndVR into the memory care community, along with nature, music, art, travel and adventure,” Brickler explained.
“We lift them up from the four walls of existence and place them in a very happy, calm, safe place that connects them with all these energies of the outside world. “
The company currently operates B2B businesses in all 50 states, Canada and Australia. While doing his B2C business selling playback equipment, the company plans to launch the next version of its home-use product next quarter. Tens of millions of older people living at home and receiving care at home.
Ultimately, Brickler believes: That virtual reality will be everywhere and will become the standard of care for the elderly.
“This is a big issue because it has a huge impact on the applicability of VR to these older people. I think this trend will continue. I think the price of these glasses will continue to drop and they will become ubiquitous. We believe that in five years every family caring for the elderly will have a set of these headsets at home for the elderly and possibly for their own family. I have.”
What MyndVR is building is a global network of endpoints that can deliver these digital therapeutics via HTC Vive glasses technology and MyndVR’s global distribution network. .”
(Image source: myndvr.com)
