Macquarie Telecom is supporting Rocky Bay to improve its efficiencies, digitise traditional manual processes, and pioneer neuro rehabilitation assistive technologies by leveraging mobile, SD-WAN, and NBN connectivity.
Macquarie’s support enhances Rocky Bay’s mobile communication between staff and its transition of therapy appointments online. Macquarie’s assistive technology is designed to assist people living with paralysis and loss of speech to regain their independence.
In response to COVID-19, Macquarie has also launched updates to workplace processes at Rocky Bay. This includes the enhancement of mobile communication to automate shift covering and switching between staff who can now also exchange urgent information about customers, as well as a transition from in-person therapy to a virtual, tele-therapy format.
According to Rocky Bay chief financial officer Adam Maxwell, between April 2020 and May 2021, they have conducted 2,903 tele-therapy sessions. The new format, he says, has garnered positive feedback from customers.
“We would not be able to pioneer emerging care technologies and make this kind of transition without Macquarie’s services, expertise and support,” Maxwell says.
Macquarie says Rocky Bay became the first provider in Western Australia (WA) to offer the NeuroNode Trilogy system.
The NeuroNode is a small, non-invasive wireless electromyography (EMG) sensor grafted on the skin over the muscle. When a person attempts to move that muscle, the NeuroNode detects their EMG signals and uses them to allow control of a computer or communication device.
The NeuroNode Trilogy system also allows people to use eye-gaze control technology to operate devices. It uses infrared dual lights which shine on the eyeballs and triangulate the data to predict where someone is looking to locate a cursor.
The user can use one of these methods or both together by moving a cursor with their eyes and selecting or clicking using the NeuroNode switch. Along with this system, Rocky Bay also has various eye gaze devices that can be trialled and used by customers.
A Rocky Bay customer was quoted about the improved efficiencies that tele-therapy has provided her and her daughter.
The customer recalls: “Prior to COVID-19 we had only attended therapy sporadically during the school holidays, so that my daughter wouldn’t miss out on school. The transition to completing occupational therapy and speech pathology sessions online was scary at first, but we have had a lot of success with the format.”
She adds: “We have continued with tele-therapy even now that lockdowns have eased, and complete weekly sessions that do not interrupt her schooling at all.”
The process upgrades and innovations are improving the lives of customers and staff at Rocky Bay, claims Maxwell.
“The NeuroNode and eye-gaze control technology sound incredibly futuristic, but they are already here in WA and making such a difference in the lives of our customers and their families. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the capabilities of assistive technology,” he notes.
Macquarie Telecom group executive Luke Clifton describes Rocky Bay’s work as “nothing short of remarkable.”
“Since 1938, it [Rocky Bay] has made such a difference in the lives of Western Australia’s most vulnerable and their loved ones, and it’s constantly looking for ways to expand its capabilities and help more people,” he says.
“It has been a privilege to work alongside the organisation and play a small part in enriching the lives of so many,” Clifton concludes.
Rocky Bay will continue working with Macquarie Telecom to roll out a number of other technologies to assist people with disabilities.
These will include artificial intelligence (AI) to predict when certain customer behaviours will arise, such as seizures, and initiate contact with a carer ahead of events, as well as virtual reality in customer homes.
