Over the past couple of months I’ve been talking with Steve Rusche about the way LifeShare Tech offers individual seniors, their families, and senior living communities a communication system that adds internet connectivity and digital functionality to ordinary TVs.

By Pam McDonald

I’m no Luddite, but I just don’t get along with technology. Don’t get me wrong, I love and use my computer, the internet, and my smartphone every single day. I can’t imagine life without them. But when it comes to installing and using new programs, applications, or even websites, I’m a wreck.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told, “Don’t worry, it’s so easy anyone (meaning any idiot) can do it. You’ll have it up and running in no time.” But that’s never been quite true for me. There’s always glitches and things that just don’t work the way they should.

A Different and Positive Experience

Over the past couple of months I’ve been talking with Steve Rusche, Co-founder and CEO of LifeShare Technologies, a Senior Housing Forum partner that offers individual seniors, their families, and senior living communities a communication system that adds internet connectivity and digital functionality to ordinary TVs.

When Steve suggested I try LifeShare Tech in my own home, you can only imagine my anxiety and trepidation. Earlier in the month I had spent a harrowing 2 hours on the phone with techs installing streaming video. But Steve was sure I would have a completely different and positive hands-on experience with LifeShare.

Within days I received a package with everything I needed – the set top box, electrical plug, connection wires, and a simplified remote control – and quickly I had my own first-hand experience with LifeShare. The following are the three things I like best about the system:

  1. Ease of installation and use — I was expecting a repeat of my streaming video nightmare, but instead, with Steve guiding me on the phone, I was able to plug into the TV and power up the top set in less than 10 minutes! 

    We spent another 5 minutes connecting with the internet. Yes, it took me two tries to get my password right . . . but not the 7 times I needed with the streaming device, which changed the characters to black dots as I typed them. (Not a helpful feature when you’re trying to enter 16 letters and numbers with varying capitalization.)

    In a total of 15 minutes I was able to pick up the remote and begin exploring the features available on LifeShare – the games, the music, even the news, which I could read for myself or have the device read to me.

  1. Depth of functionality — LifeShare can open up entirely new vistas to individual seniors who may have been tech-adverse by putting email, photo sharing, games, music, inspirational messages and much more at their fingertips. But it also is designed to meet the needs of senior communities and residents’ families.

    Steve showed me how, like senior community staff, I would log on using my computer to create and distribute content to TV monitors in the community’s public areas as well as send personal alerts and notices to individual resident rooms via TV, phone, text, or all three. 

    I saw how easy it would be to use the built-in templates to create slide shows, complete with background music and captioned in-house photos to highlight the lifestyle enjoyed each day at the community, or to feature special occasions, menus, and upcoming activities. (In fact, the activities calendar template makes it oh so simple to create, manage and publish printed Community Calendars.) 

    The games, news and other engagement resources available on LifeShare can be set up for group activities, and the music and faith programming are scientifically selected in conjunction with Coro Health to meet therapeutic needs of individuals or groups, which can especially enhance memory care programming. 

    Individual family members can stay informed about what’s happening at the community using LifeShare’s free robust mobile app. They can upload pictures, add appointments to their loved one’s personal calendars, and even share notes with other family members.

  1. Try Before You Buy — What??!! That’s right. LifeShare Technologies does not expect anyone who is considering a purchase to take their word for it. They remove the risk and let potential customers get up close and personal with their system. Now that’s a clincher for a skeptic like me!

If you are interested in getting your hands on and experiencing LifeShare Technologies, call

(317) 825-0320 or click on the logo button below to visit their website: 

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