Today we have a very special guest who is also one of my current professors that the University of Nebraska at Omaha! Meaghan Fitzgerald Walls holds a bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics with a Chemistry minor and a Masters in bioengineering with an emphasis on rehabilitation and assistance technology. Meaghan’s accomplishments do not end there. She sits on many committees including Alzheimer’s Association Dementia Care Conference Planning Committee and the Mayors Advisory commission for Citizens with disabilities. Throughout her professional career, she has held many titles, but she is currently the President, founder, and Chief executive officer of Assistology, LCC.
Today we have a very special guest who is also one of my current professors that the University of Nebraska at Omaha! Meaghan Fitzgerald Walls holds a bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics with a Chemistry minor and a Masters in bioengineering with an emphasis on rehabilitation and assistance technology. Meaghan’s accomplishments do not end there. She sits on many committees including Alzheimer’s Association Dementia Care Conference Planning Committee and the Mayors Advisory commission for Citizens with disabilities. Throughout her professional career, she has held many titles, but she is currently the President, founder, and Chief executive officer of Assistology, LCC.
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Speaker 2:Everyone. Welcome to this episode of the outward. I have a very special guest today who also happens to be one of my wonderful professors at the university of Nebraska at Omaha. Megan Fitzgerald waltz holds a number of degrees and, um, is just an amazing person overall. I remember when I first read her resume that she posted on our class, I was like, wow. She seems like a really cool person. Um, she holds a bachelor's in mathematics and a chemistry minor, and also holds a master's in bio engineering with an emphasis on rehabilitation and assistance technology. Megan's accomplishments. Don't end there though. She sits on many different committees, including the Alzheimer's association, dementia care conference planning committee and the mayor's advisory commission for citizens with disabilities throughout her professional career. She has held many titles, but is currently the president founder and chief executive officer of astrology. Megan, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thanks for inviting me on excited to, uh, excited for our conversation.
Speaker 2:Me too. I wanted to start off. Um, if you could just talk a little bit about what astrology is and your mission. Sure.
Speaker 3:So to kind of understand the purpose behind us histology, um, let me just start a little bit with the type of degree that I got in the work that I did my, uh, degree in bioengineering, focusing in rehab and assistive technology was with the intent of providing, um, recommendations, designed working with assistive technology and universal design theory, um, to impact the way that people are able to participate in activities. Um, so if they need adapted equipment or we need to change the environment or look at, you know, different practices and policies around how things happen. And so[inaudible] was born about four little over four years ago when I back in Omaha after being gone for 13 years and just really came to realize that, um, you know, even as we were heading into the, we were in the second decade of, of 2020 families and our businesses and the community didn't have a resource to advance the accessibility and inclusiveness in our community. And so I started the company with exactly mission to provide, um, assistive technology, universal design, and inclusive design consultation to help individuals reach their, their goals and be more independent in their participation, whether that's at home or out in our community and to help businesses adjust their practices, review their environments, um, plan their, their business programs in a more inclusive manner so that more members of our community can engage in what they want to in the way that they want to.
Speaker 2:I absolutely love that. I think something that I've learned from your class is life. Isn't one dimensional, and there's so many different aspects that you have to think about when it comes to making sure that everything is accessible for everyone. Is this something, this topic, something that you've been interested in your whole life, or was there a particular moment that made you interested in it
Speaker 3:For the most part grew up immersed in disability services. My mom started children's respite care center when I was young, um, which at its very core back in 1990 was, um, a medically based childcare where children with special needs that couldn't be served in traditional a traditional daycare setting could get, um, nursing care as well as socialization and, um, education, um, in those early childhood years and then summer campus as they expanded. Um, and so, and then as, as the organization grew to include therapy and rehab therapy, behavior service, health services, um, and different other aspects. Um, so I went along with that journey as well. And so I had talked to families and educators and therapists, and there always seemed to be something that wasn't working quite right, either in the environment or with the equipment that they were using. I heard a lot of, well, this is great, but I wish it did this too, or this is great, but I wish this, you know, feature was more comfortable or easier to maneuver or access. And so I'd had a lot of that in my head. And then when I was a junior in high school, um, it was during my honors physics class, we had a kind of a design engineering type project. It was the first time I really realized like, Hey, I'm, I'm kinda good at this engineering creating and building and putting things together and solving problems type thing. And so I identified rehab engineering as a potential field that was emerging at the time and, um, kind of set my sights on that. So I kind of tailored my college experience to prepare me to go to grad school, um, in that field. So I think that it was, um, that that year, that junior year project was kind of the aha on what do I do with what I've heard and what I'm interested in and what I may seem to be good at. Um, but I think it was a cultivation of life experience kind of along the way, um, and what I'd been exposed to in the disability, um, service realm as well.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for telling that story. I particularly think it's really interesting, like how people come to end up doing what they do. Um, and obviously, you know, you work with all different populations, all different people, but how did you particularly get interested in working with older adults and becoming a professor at UNL?
Speaker 3:So part of the part of my goal was to be able to work across the lifespan because things tend to be very siloed and people get helped in one environment or when they're in one age bracket. Um, and through this, a lot of my work with Easter seals in Massachusetts, I worked with older, um, community members who were really struggling to have independence at home and, you know, maintain their housing, um, and their health. And so we worked a lot with controlling their environment and gaining access to technology so that they could, you know, pay their bills and stay in communication. And I just really saw that, um, you know, the things that were really important to them, um, you know, being able to communicate with the outside world and stay connected to people was always at the top of their priority list and finding ways for them to stay, you know, independent and doing the things in their own home and not have to have that stress and worry about if they were going to have to leave. And most of them were on the very, very low income status. And so it's not like they could afford to go pay, you know,$6,000 a month in a high-end independent living community. Um, so I really, I always had an interest in, um, how like that independence at home and the dignity of performing whatever activities you're interested in. Um, aren't on your terms and, you know, with as much independence as possible. And so with the growth in our older adult population, um, and the housing shortages and just all of, all of the different types of things, I really, um, saw an opportunity to try to help older adults, whether it's in their own home or whether they're in an independent living community or even an assisted living and, you know, working on quality of life. Um, so quality of life and independence, what you know is, is kind of the focus. And so I just, there's a lot out there for, um, that can help with the independence and safety for older adults. I feel like that the industries aren't really aware of, um, elements that can be easy, that can be added easily, that are not expensive, that can increase, you know, their independence for things like their nutritional, um, independence and, and, but also for hobbies and recreation, things that give them, um, you know, purpose in their days, whether that's gardening or playing games or playing cards or, um, those types of things. So I'd always had an interest in that. And I think for about two years, I constantly ran into people that said, have you talked with Julie masters, you really need to talk to Julie masters, have you talked to Julie masters? And so finally I reached out to Julie and said, Hey, I've had a lot of people telling me that you and I should have a conversation. So do you have time to just chat? So I went into the office and we just talked about stuff and got to know each other, and she planted the seed, um, about teaching. She just thought that my, my background, um, and my interests and the things that I worked in, um, would bring something unique to the department. And so over about six months, she, she wore me down into creating this course. Um, and so this is the, this is the first time it's online, but it's the third semester that it's been offered. So, um, that's how we can thank Julie masters or blamed Julie masters, um, either way. But so it was really her vision of giving the students a more industry based perspective. Um, that was, that brought me to, to the department.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm sure thankful for it, and it's definitely different than any other class that I've taken. Um, and you know, something that you said earlier that really stuck out to me is that an IC, I come from a recreation background is that people think that, you know, when you need to, um, make something more accessible for someone that it's automatically going to be super expensive or, and I'm sure, you know, there are cases where things might be a little more expensive. Like in our class, we talked about, um, different ramps for people to be able to get into their cars. And, you know, that's a little more money, but you know, one of my favorite things as far as, um, recreation is people who love gardening. Like you said, you know, a lot of facilities now have raised garden beds and it's like such a simple thing, but they really didn't start being popular until like five years ago or so. So it's kind of funny how, like, people think that you can't reinvent the wheel, but you definitely can. Is there any specific, um, adaptive device that you have seen and you're like, wow, that's a really simple solution that took a long time to come up with. Uh, that's, that's a tough question. Um, or just maybe your favorite adaptive device.
Speaker 3:Yeah. You know, I think that, um, more than a say my favorite adapted advice device is that I like when I can introduce people to something that solves their problem or removes that barrier, but we're using the item in a way that wasn't necessarily intended. So, you know, or, or an item that, you know, at first glance you go, w I, what does that do? One, uh, one of those items is it's like a, it's just a molded plastic. Um, it looks kind of like a pitch for, or a tuning fork, but it's like a long plastic. And it's used as it's a shoe, like a shoe, it's a shoe taking off assistive device. So it sits on like the floor behind the heel of the shoe and allows you to like, hold it, hold it down with your other foot and holds your shoes. You can pull your shoe out. So keeps peep. I'm not describing this very well, but it keeps people from having to like try to bend or twist to take their shoes off. Um, but it, nobody can ever figure out what it looks like. Um, but like another thing is like this, and this is a younger adult that I'm working with, but, um, she, she's just really struggling with the, the, our movements and dexterity to wash her hair. So then it becomes, uh, you know, a dignity issue when she's going out and half her hair looks washed and half of it doesn't. And, um, so we're actually going to be trying, um, what's on the market as like a, a dog brush shampoo Mitt, um, because the typical Silicon like shampoo brushes the handle, it doesn't work for her, um, or the shampoo falls through like the tines in a way. And so this is a hole, it sits, it covers her whole hand and the little tines are short. Um, so we're hoping that that'll that'll solve the problem, but, um, you know, it's, people wouldn't necessarily go looking for it or find it because they're not going to look for a dog product, you know, for, for themselves. And I say that across the board with the older adults that I've worked with in the last couple of years, um, and this may surprise people, but, um, implementing smart devices and smart speakers has been one of the most common things that I've done. Um, and sometimes it's partially safety-related because you can set it up to work as a phone. So if they do fall and they can't reach their phone, they can make phone call through the device sometimes it's, it, it, you know, it's to control their environment because they can't otherwise by voice is the only way that they can check the security camera or unlock the door or change the temperature in the room. So, um, that has actually been, um, the biggest request from my clients over the age of 50. In the last few years,
Speaker 2:I am such a big proponent of like smart technology, or just introducing older adults to technology in general, you know, during COVID working in long-term care facilities, people aren't able to see their family. And I can't tell you how many iPads I have set up and I'm, I'm so happy to do it. And, you know, it's like a lot of people think, you know, that whole phrase, like you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Like, I think it's easier teaching an older adults use and then some people my age, but it's just really cool.
Speaker 3:I go ahead. Oh, I was gonna say there was a, some market study or survey that came out a couple within the last year or so, that was showing the demographics of technology users or new technology adapters for certain things. And the biggest, like segment of the population that was adopting, some of these technologies was in that, like, I want to say like 50 to 70, um, for the app usage and like different things. Um, which surprised even me, even though I work in the industry,
Speaker 2:You know, it was super surprising for me. I think I just noticed it more during COVID. Like, one of my favorite stories is my coworker had in, um, like a grandparent who, uh, struggled with dexterity and they use the smart speaker and it was hard for them to turn the light switches on and off. And now they just say like, Hey, turn on lights. Or they can, like you said, do the temperature with it. And it's just little things that if you don't struggle with that, you don't think about it. And you know, that's something I love about your class is that you open like myself and all the other students eyes to things that we don't, we don't think about on a daily basis through the class. What has been some of your favorite things to teach students? Okay.
Speaker 3:So the nice thing about this class and that I designed it is I get to teach about all of my favorite things. Um, but I think the conversation around assistive technology and what it is, and the scope of low tech to high tech and the different ways it can be used is always one of my favorite topics, but very close in that is just the overarching impact and application of universal design across everything that we do. And if we applied universal design principles to every aspect of how we design indoor and environments products, programs, services, um, we'd have less stress about being able to accommodate certain groups or serving different populations or age groups. Um, and so educating students on what universal design is all about and how it can be applied, I think is maybe one of the things I love the most, because it's great for them to know about assistive technology and they're going to run into it in their careers. But I feel like the, uh, the, the information around universal design as something that they'll be able, every student will be able to take with them into whatever area of career they go into, whether they're going into rec, whether they're going into therapy, whether they're going into, um, you know, long-term care management, you know, you think about, I mean, there's just, there are elements of it that no matter the career path they can take with them. And so I think, um, that's one that I really try to make sure we cover in depth of sure that you've notice that the way that infant infiltrates most of our units in some way. No,
Speaker 2:I really appreciate it. I think that's one of my favorite parts too. I think it was one of the beginning weeks. We, you roundabout about this hotel and I believe it was New York that they, is it the Paralympics that they have there that they made the whole space able to use for
Speaker 3:All different people? Yes. So the universal, um, it's, um, innovative solutions for universal design out of, um, the university of Buffalo that the program that worked to design it, and really the crux of the conversation was, Hey, we host the Paralympic games, but like the sled hockey, Paralympic games. So all of our athletes need some sort of broader accommodation in their rooms. They need more space. They need, you know, these elements. And it was really hard for them to find housing for all of the athletes when they came to town. And so this hotel said, well, you know, what will be the hotel that anybody can stay at? And we can house the whole Paralympic, like squad, if so desired. Um, so it was a really unique project and just a really, um, forward thinking, you know, business decision that I'm hoping, um, they'll continue to share the success and the outcomes from that. So that more places will, um, adopt those, those, uh, ideas. Right.
Speaker 2:Love that story so much because, you know, I think you really emphasize in class at the point of universal design is that everyone can use it. It's not just something where one person can use it, but then another population is excluded. And it was such a like, I guess, a minor thing, but it really made me start thinking when we talked about wider hallways or like in restaurants, wider Isles, I was like, wow, that would be helpful for people who may be using an assisted device, like a Walker moms with strollers, you know, the people using wheelchairs. I was like, wow, you know, this is something that we could really adapt in every single aspect of our lives. And, you know, I definitely wouldn't be mad about it. And I really appreciate how you use so many different examples, you know, like that one in New York with your company, do you work with individuals mostly in the home setting or do you also work with them? Um, in other settings maybe like work or school.
Speaker 3:So I work kind of across environment. So I work with individuals in their homes. And then I part I do work with, um, I work with some businesses to support their clients when they're onsite at the receiving their services. So not technically. So like, so I support the individuals through the way the programs are designed and offered in the environment and such. And then I do work with, um, some students in, in schools Mo and then also a component of that is working with the school teachers and staff and administration to help them understand why some, some changes may be needed or why the student is going to use, you know, these scissors or this mouse at the computer, um, to kind of help with the inclusion of special education students within all of the different classroom environments, so that they're taking the classes alongside their, um, all of their peers. Um, so it really depends on which organizations I'm partnering with and, um, where the, the need is. But that's part of, that was part of why I started the company, the way that I did it. I want to be able to work with individuals in whatever environments I'm needed at whatever age or stage of life, um, you know, phase of life in that stage of life, phase of life they're they're in. Um, and so I have the freedom to do that. Whereas when I was working for other organizations, I was limited to age group or environment, um, and how we supported the teams. And I just felt that it left, um, it left gaps in, um, in what families and individuals needed. So, um, that was, that was part of the motivation for doing structuring things and doing things the way that, um, that I, that I am now.
Speaker 2:I absolutely love that. I agree that, you know, um, accessibility isn't just for one group of people or one age range, and it's nice that you're able to help people with all those, um, different age ranges. Um, just the last few questions. I appreciate time so much, um, through looking through, um, your resume. I saw that you've worked with a lot of different committees, and I was specifically interested in the Alzheimer's association, dementia care conference planning committee. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about what that is and what you do for them.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So it's been a little bit different in this last year, just because of the pandemic, but essentially, um, there's, uh, there, it, it originally the dementia care conference was, um, focused around kind of professional development for those, for family. There was like an Avenue for families to learn about some of the, maybe the new research in dementia care and, and medications, as well as resources. Then there was also a track where, um, professionals who work with individuals with dementia, um, could come and learn, you know, whether it was behavioral techniques or those types of things. And then the second year it was shifting and we were, we were shifting it to a focus, um, on the caregivers, um, VR and going away from the CEU is professional development. So it's really becoming a caregiver, um, resource day, um, where the speakers, um, so Tepa snow was, was slotted to be our speaker. Um, and then the pandemic hit. So, um, we're kind of adjusting. Um, and so what it, what it will look like when we can finally do it all in person is a day where there's resources available, um, speakers and breakouts that are truly focused around caregiver support, um, for individuals that are supporting, um, their loved ones or, you know, working as a caregiver for individuals with dementia. Um, and so that's the plan and that was, um, I'm not sure when it slotted to be this year. I think we're all still kind of, uh, you know, assessing, um, if it's going to be safe, um, especially because a lot of the individuals that attend that are older adults, um, who have older adults in their lives. And so we have to be really cognizant of what's going on with the pandemic and if people are going to want to gather in person or whatnot, but it's, um, it's the Alzheimer's association obviously is the big sponsor putting it on. Um, and then one of their big supporters, sponsors and supporters is, um, Clare, senior advisors. Uh, the, the committee chair is, um, Emily, Jacob. Who's one of the partners in that, in that agency. So they do a lot to support the process as well.
Speaker 2:That sounds like such a great thing. I know, you know, I work in long-term care and, um, skilled nursing and I see a lot of families that just like they don't know to do. They don't know what direction to look. So it's great to have an option for families. Um, you know, so many people, you know, just walking down the street, you don't even know, like have a family member who has Alzheimer's or a type of dementia. Um, so I would like to thank you so much for joining me. And the last question I like to ask anyone, or everyone is if you could tell the whole entire world one thing about older adults, what would it be? That the insight and the stories that they bring from their life lived experience is not to be taken for granted. And we need to do a better job listening. I completely agree with you. My, one of the main reasons I got into gerontology is I love the stories and I agree. Definitely don't take them for granted. You know, after this, if you guys are listening to call up your grandparents coffee on uncle, like ask, just ask them, you know, I want to thank you so much, Megan, for taking time out of your day. Um, and I'm really excited to share, um, this episode of the O word with everyone. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Well, that's it for this week's episode of the O word, don't forget to check in and call on your older adult friends, have a wonderful rest of your day.