How Rest Assured Is Filling a Niche in the Senior-Care Market This Lafayette, Ind.-based company lets seniors and their families know that someone has their backs. Plus, other game-changers meeting the needs of older consumers.

Keeping a senior in a nursing home is incredibly expensive. Bringing in a home healthcare aid may be more economical, but a nurse can't monitor each client 24/7.

That's the niche Rest Assured fills. The system sounds like something out of Orwell: A typical setup includes two-way video monitoring and an array of sensors that tell the Tele-Caregiver at Rest Assured's home base in Lafayette, Ind., how long a senior has stayed in the bathroom or if they've opened the medicine cabinet to take their prescriptions. It also measures the temperature, calculates carbon monoxide and even indicates when a client sits in a specific chair or goes to bed.

But the heart of the system is a little less big brother and a little more warm and fuzzy. Caregivers interact with clients, checking in at set times each day, appearing on a video monitor with reminders to take medicine. Some drop in digitally during dinnertime to keep their clients company. If there's a problem they can't handle remotely, they'll dispatch someone to the home or contact a family member.