Website helps fund efforts to e-enable seniors

Designed as a multimedia, self-service technology, CATIE uses an Apple iPad as the centerpiece of an in-room, always-on kiosk. And because the system's buttons can be customized to each community, residents have 24/7 access to information as well as to those services and amenities that are available.

MyGreenPages.net was based on the Google model of providing a free search engine paid for by sponsors and advertisers, Amy Jeffs, vice president of strategic programs for Status Solutions, said in a press release. "CATIE was invented as a means of e-enabling seniors for greater well-being. But many senior living communities are nonprofits with limited budgets, so we designed CATIE with monetization in mind to help offset the cost."

The original Green Pages began as an electronic directory of local businesses and resources that was accessible from in-room kiosks within a specific community, Jeffs explained. But as sponsors started creating special promotions aimed not only at senior residents but their family and friends as well, Status Solutions decided to expand access to Green Pages. "By extending Green Pages outside the resident room and onto the Web, we’re creating an ecosystem of mutual benefit for all participants. But the driver is helping seniors who are underserved yet most in need of technology to stay connected inside and outside the walls of their (senior living) communities,” Jeffs said.