Why is hydration care important?
Water is our primary and most important nutrient. It makes up approximately two-thirds of our body. Insufficient water leads to dehydration, which is the underlying cause of many common conditions including: constipation; falls; urinary tract infections; pressure ulcers; malnutrition; incontinence; and confusion. Dehydration can also lead to life-threatening conditions, such as acute kidney injury, cardiac disease and venous thromboembolism.
Obli encourages people to drink sufficiently and regularly.
This is achieved by nudging users in a very intuitive way by lights and sounds. Obli is easy to use, even for elderly people with very little experience with technology and patients in the first stages of dementia. The total oral intake of fluids is registered by Obli, both drinks from the carafe as well as tea, coffee or cold drinks from the refrigerator.
The Obli system enables caregivers to remotely monitor and reinforce healthy drinking behaviour. Data related to the actual fluid intake can be retrieved and can then be used to provide feedback to the user. or for integration with health platforms.
For whom?
Primary target users are those at risk of dehydration, in particular the elderly. Other patient groups are people with e.g. obstipation, chronic cystitis or diabetes, but also people with a fluid restriction because of chronic heart or kidney failure. Obli is being used in people’s homes, in care homes and in institutions for disabled people.
Obli is validated
A scientific effect study (Randomized Controlled Trial) has been conducted together with GP’s. Within patients that were selected because of low fluid intake a mean increase of 65% was achieved, after patient education and the use of Obli for 6 weeks. Also, long term effects (after 6 months) were included in this study.
Obli was introduced to market in 2013, since then it has been deployed in the consumer market and implemented in in the care sector in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Luxemburg.
Improving quality of care, avoiding hospital (re-)admittance and costs are big challenges in care homes and in community home care. We have built a convincing business case in avoiding unnecessary admittances by conducting an effective preventive strategy.
For more information visit www.obli.info/en
Fresh Idea Factory (the Netherlands) is a start-up that develops and implements innovative products that help people to live healthy and promote smart care. We believe that prevention and self-management are key issues in modern health care.