From Caregiver to Designer

Abstract

Kim McRae has an 11 year history as a family caregiver and a consumer of aging services. During a five year period, she and her husband took care of - and lost - his mother, his father, and her father. When her father died, Kim "inherited" her mother, who had yet undiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body dementia. Kim’s Mom lived with them for four years, then spent four years in an Alzheimer’s unit of an assisted living facility in Atlanta. Kim has been studying dementia care and long-term care in depth for more than eight years to learn how to help herself help her mother. During this time, it became evident that there is a huge need for products to help both the caregiver and the care receiver. Together with a B.A. in Journalism from The University of NC at Chapel Hill; a background in consumer marketing, PR and advertising; and a deep desire to help others, Kim created the AboutFace remote. It is a result of her frustration and sadness in watching her mother lose her ability to do something as simple as turn on the television for herself, and her desire to help her mother have a successful, happy quality of life. About Face Technologies, LLC is focused on providing simple & intuitive assistive technology products for those needing simplicity. The AboutFace remote is an easy-to-use combination television and cable box remote control with limited functions for those that have trouble with, or do not need, all of the functions available on a standard remote. About Face Technologies was a finalist in the 2008 Silicon Valley Boomer Business Summit at Santa Clara University.