AristaCare at Whiting is now using incredibly innovative technology to help engage patients with the outside world. Called It’s Never Too Late (IN2L), the system has tremendous therapeutic applications.

A long-term care patient in New Jersey can use a webcam to read a favorite story to his grandchild in California. Another patient can take a walk along a virtual re-creation of the street where she grew up, and re-connect with treasured memories from her childhood. New computer technology is restoring the quality of life for people who, until now, may have felt that they have lost important parts of themselves when they entered an inpatient facility.

IN2L makes therapy fun and helps keeps patients engaged for longer periods of time. They use their cognitive and motor skills, and work on their eye/hand coordination, by playing bingo with friends in real time, emailing friends and family, working a jigsaw puzzle of a treasured family pet, and connecting with others during an interactive Wheel of Fortune game on the giant screen. They can use the system to 'escape' to the outside world and ‘visit’ places they wouldn’t normally see during therapy. And they can do so whether they are sitting, standing or laying down.