Academic Research
There is a great deal of research being conducted into the use of technology to help older people stay safe and well in their homes. Here are some links to some of the published results.
If you are involved in academic research of this kind that we might find useful or that we might be able to help with, do please contact us.
UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing
Automated Health Alerts Using In-Home Sensor Data for Embedded Health Assessment
Older Adult Falls : Inability to get up, subsequent time on floor, summoning help
Of these 141 falls, 38 resulted in lying on the floor for over an hour, despite an installed alarm system, and in 97% of these “long lies” the person who fell alone did not use their alarm to summon help.
Satisfaction and use of personal emergency response systems
24% of the participants reported that they never wear the alarm button, and only 14% wear it 24 hours each day. After falls [the alarm button] was not activated by 83% of the subscribers who fell alone and lay on the floor longer than 5 minutes.
Personal emergency alarms: do health outcomes differ for purchasers and nonpurchasers?
Over half of people aged 80 years and older suffer from two or more diseases... and the interaction between the aging process, diseases, medication, and related side effects leads to complex health conditions that are difficult to assess and communicate. Moreover, since care professionals are not on-site around the clock, they receive only partial information throughout the day about older adults living at home. This makes assessing and making correct decisions about the older person’s health difficult.
A Survey on Ambient-Assisted Living Tools for Older Adults
Falls in Older People: Epidemiology, Risk Factors and Strategies for Prevention
Smart homes for the elderly dementia sufferers: identification and prediction of abnormal behaviour
Wearable Devices for Predicting Illness
Stanford Medicine Healthcare Innovation Lab
Oxford Institute of Population Ageing