A pair of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering are developing sensor technology for senior care facilities and private homes that can determine both who is in danger of falls and where they are.
The technology, according to the school, monitors a person's gait and can send mobile alerts to that person or to nurses and caregivers about the potential for a fall. While they aim to prevent falls, the technology is programmed to alert others to a fall, even if the person is unconscious.
To accompany the technology, the researchers recently surveyed 1,900 people about senior fall prevention. Eighty-one percent of respondents expressed an interest in sensor technology that can anticipate and prevent falls.
More than 1,000 respondents said they were concerned that a parent might fall, with 70 percent worrying about it at least every week.
Because of that worry, 44 percent of respondents said they or a sibling check in on their parent(s) daily; 56 percent reported that a neighbor or staff does so.
The survey found that those with more education and higher incomes tend to worry less, though that might indicate that the parents already use an alert system to detect falls, the researchers said.
Technology has the potential to help the elderly live more connected yet independent lives, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology concluded in a recent report.
Italian researchers have developed a smart home system featuring wearables, a real-time fall-detection algorithm and shoe-based activity monitoring to help prevent falls in elderly patients.
To learn more:
- here's the announcement