“Personal electronic response systems have utility and functionality, but they are totally ineffectual if people don’t want to use them.”  -David Jaffe, ME Instructor, Perspectives in Assistive Technology, Stanford University

While I was a graduate student at Stanford, my Grandmother lived alone 3000 miles away in Florida. When I asked her why she didn’t use her emergency call device she told me that she preferred to wear jewelry around her neck than an ugly plastic call button. That conversation led me to interview many more older adults at Lytton Gardens, an assisted living community in Palo Alto, and learned that other people her age had the same feelings. As a student, I focused on the women’s market, reimagining the aesthetics of emergency call devices to improve their usability and appeal for this population. Through collaborations with industry sponsors Great Call and GelaSkins®, I developed innovative solutions, including “after market” personalization of an existing device, and a new wrist accessory concept tailored for both adults and children. These designs emphasized user preferences, accessibility, and customization.

This graduate school project led to my hiring by Great Call (rebranded in 2021 as Lively), where I contributed to enhancing their product lineup. Later, I contracted with Q-Medic Health to design accessories for personal electronic response systems, furthering my interest to commercialize functional, user-friendly, and thoughtfully designed assistive technology.