Guest:  Kimberly Naus

Topic:  MediCube

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Kimberly Naus, Director of the Center for Assistive Technology at the University at Buffalo, and your host is yours truly Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program Kim.

Guest:  Thank you for having me, Ernie.

Host:  And you have some exciting information about an assistive device that helps people deal with their medications but first you are here thanks to the auspices of TRAID, if you could mention what that is.

Guest:  Yes, the TRAID program stands for the acronym Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities. It is a federally funded program, so it’s your tax dollars going to work for you. And what this program enables is for people to stay in their homes, have a livable community as well as go back to work or school, and provide devices for you to borrow to evaluate on the job, or just for day to day living. The goal as I said is to keep people in their homes.

Host:  And you never can tell when the right assistive device will make people able to live more independently and so it's wonderful what you're doing. You’re here today to talk about the MediCube, which sounds very forward thinking and whatnot, what does, what will that do for a person that gets one?

Guest:  The MediCube could assist somebody to never miss on taking a pill again. The MediCube is an automatic pill dispenser that it's clinically proven to increase medication adherence. It’s a pricey little bugger, sometimes your insurances will cover this, but we are a site that you know you could come and check it out, we could talk to you about it. It is $1,700, $1,749 to be exact. There is no subscription required. It prepares and delivers the right dose at the right time. It alerts patients. So if you're dealing with some confusion or some dementia and you don't have a caretaker there to attend to you, it helps to keep your loved ones taking their medication when they need to. There is a need to refill alert, so obviously if you have a loved one that's caring for you or somebody from an agency, they could assist you with getting those medications back into the dispensary. It is lockable. So it is secure. So it omits taking too much medication, at the same time.

Host:  It sounds like a fairly sophisticated piece of technology, about how large is the Medicube? What space would it take up in someone's home?

Guest:  The device is pretty large, it stands about 12 inches high, 12 inches wide. You can refill it for several days of medications so it's not just one day. The exact dimensions are 10 inches by 10 inches by 10 inches, the weight of it is 10 pounds. It can easily you know be cleaned off by wiping it down, but the main concern is security. You know if you're taking some medications, you know that may be a controlled substance and that would be tracked. This is where it can be very, very beneficial or if you're taking a lot of medications, they can get confusing because some medications can look the same,

Host:  With all three dimensions being identical I think I can see what prompted them to refer to it as a cube.

Guest:  Yes. Most definitely, yes.

Host:  I'm sure that people will have questions on this device. What's a good way to reach you by phone or email?

Guest:  You can reach me at 836-1350, and then my email is ksnaus@buffalo.edu, but you can also call 836-1168, where my colleagues could answer the phone. And it's also I want to add it's an FDA approved, clinical, you know, device that's proven to work.

Host:  Alright, that's all the time we have, thanks so much for being with us, Kim.

Guest:  Thank you, Ernie, have a wonderful day.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was Kimberly Naus, Director of the Center for Assistive Technology at the University at Buffalo, and your host is yours truly, Ernie Churchwell.