OUR COMPANY
The team at Edgewater NEXT is united by a passion for creating health and wellness products that improve quality of life. To this purpose, we bring expertise in healthcare, technology innovation, engineering, robotics and automation, manufacturing, business, and app development.
Edgewater NEXT is the newest in the family of Edgewater companies in St. Joseph, MI, which have been recognized for award-winning design and build of custom assembly and test equipment for companies around the world.
OUR PRODUCTS
Edgewater NEXT proudly announces its first innovation: The Memesto, a breakthrough device worn by a person with dementia that lets family, friends and others record and schedule custom messages and music to play on the device.
These messages, in your own familiar voice, and music that’s familiar to the individual, provide calming intervention to agitation and other potentially harmful or disruptive dementia behaviors, alleviating caregiver stress and reducing the use of “as needed” drugs (known as PRN or pro re nata).
The Memesto is an affordable, accessible solution that addresses healthcare inequities among diverse population groups.
“My husband is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s Disease and has been in a nursing home for 3 years. Memesto is a great caregiver tool that has helped to calm my husband when anxious. I have also observed that he is more engaged with those around him when using it. It remains a comfort to me knowing that Wayne hears my voice even when I’m not there.””
The Memesto Story
A practicing elder care nurse brought his idea for the Memesto to Edgewater NEXT after seeing how frequently the needs and behaviors of individuals with dementia and other cognitive disorders change. We designed, developed, and built a prototype, tested it on dementia patients at home and in hospice and long-term care facilities, and were inspired by the results.
Based on evidence that scheduled, repeated music and messages recorded in a caregiver’s voice are positive interventions to dementia behaviors, we developed an advanced, cloud-based Memesto, currently in testing.
Caregivers report that messages recorded in the familiar voice of loved ones effectively soothe care recipients when they may be agitated, exit-seeking, or combative, and can encourage positive behaviors, such as drinking water to prevent dehydration, as well. Significantly, caregivers report fewer “as needed,” or PRN (pro re nata) drugs are administered to the care recipient. At the same time, caregiver stress is reduced.
Reality Orientation
Memesto plays scheduled messages recorded in a friend or family member’s voice that have been shown to help them understand, adjust, calm down, and engage in healthy behaviors.
Music
The use of music therapy in treating mental and neurological disorders is on the rise. The Memesto plays meaningful, personalized music selected by the care recipient’s family or friends.
Comfort
Send a reminder to your loved one that you’ll be back soon…recall a favorite family memory…record family singing “Happy Birthday.” The Memesto comforts and encourages throughout the day.
Alternative Non-Drug Therapy
Memesto replaces PRNs or “as needed” drugs - sometimes harmful medications given during times of increased agitation - a win for both care recipient and the care-giving facility.
OUR TEAM
MEMBERS
Jeff Banker
President
Greg Marek
Director of Product Development
Max Gilson
Applications Engineer
Julie Anderson
Business Development, Marketing/Communications
Nathan Klann
Finance
ADVISORS
Rick Blake
Chairman, Co-Founder - St. Joseph, MI
Zach Gordon
Co-Founder/Memesto Inventor - St. Joseph, MI
Raj Shah, MD
Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center
Rush University Medical Center - Chicago IL
Dan Hayward, MD
Care, Internal Medicine, Medical Director
Spectrum Health Lakeland Post Acute Care
Jim Grandholm
Partner, CEO, Green Earth Electronics Recycling
Stuart Zola, PHD
Research, Neuroscientist, Past Co-Director
Emory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
LET’S CONNECT
Send us a message - we’d love to hear your thoughts, answer questions, collaborate, or send you the latest developments about our innovations.