The importance of a smart IoT remote elderly care system

Developed countries are aging. The proportion of people aged 65 and above in the population is rising, and this demographic is more susceptible to various diseases that are associated with old age. As such, they might need continuous monitoring or even a permanent caregiver to provide medical care. But there is a problem. In some countries, there aren’t as many geriatric care nurses, while in others, this healthcare service is too costly. IoT remote elderly care systems can help to offset these problems by providing services like continuous monitoring and fall detection. To understand the importance of smart IoT systems in elderly care, let’s look at the typical use cases of this technology.

Importance of Smart IoT Systems for Remote Elderly Care

Health Monitoring

Close to 95% of the people who fall in the elderly persons category (65 and above) have at least one chronic condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, or obesity.

In traditional geriatric healthcare systems, such patients need a primary care provider or nurse to do frequent rounds or checkup visits according to the stipulated schedule to monitor their condition. But with IoT, these patients only have to wear smart wearable sensors like heart rate and blood sugar, blood pressure, and body temperature monitors, whose data can be processed at the edge (gateway) to send alerts to the caregiver only when the readings are abnormal.

Smart mattresses have also proven critical in elderly care when they sleep. These systems eliminate the need to do frequent rounds to homes, which lessens the burden on nurses and makes it possible for one care provider to handle more patients.
Vibration sensors are also handy for this use case because they can be placed on medicine boxes to register if patients have taken their medication.

Movement Monitoring

For seniors who live alone, movement monitoring is important to ensure they are still alive and healthy. This task requires motion sensors installed around the home to check movement within the rooms, and door sensors to check if they leave the house to get some sun or fresh air. Window sensors can also be used to complement door sensors.

Video Monitoring

Although motion sensors are effective, sometimes they are not enough for patient monitoring. For instance, they can register alerts if the senior doesn’t move for a long time, while it could only be that the patient is watching a movie (stationary on the couch for long periods). So cameras come to the rescue for such cases to enable video monitoring.

Fall Detection

There’s the preventive part of fall detection, where sensors like water leaks can detect and alert the senior of areas where he/she can slip. This sensor can also alert the caregiver to schedule a plumber to fix the issue.

If the patient has already fallen, he/she can press an SOS button that is always within reach (such as in the pocket) to call for help. Advanced fall detection systems can incorporate AI cameras to automatically detect such situations and call for help, which is a better option because the patient might misplace the SOS button or lose consciousness after falling.

Security and Safety

Since most of these seniors live alone, they are vulnerable to safety and security risks. Safety risks include things like fire, gas, or water leaks, which can cause severe injuries or even fatalities. Fire, gas, and water leak detectors can help alleviate safety risks by triggering alerts or even taking corrective action automatically, such as closing valves on the water and gas supply lines.
For security, IoT systems primarily use smart cameras, motion sensors, and door/window sensors to detect intruders and break-ins.

Technologies Needed To Enable Smart IoT Elderly Care Systems

AIoT with Edge Computing

AIoT is basically IoT with AI built into it for smart processing. It requires devices like smart cameras (machine vision) to enhance the system’s video monitoring, fall detection, and intruder detection capabilities.

On the other hand, edge computing refers to having smart nodes, which can make decisions at the edge. For instance, if the gas sensors detect leaks, edge computing gateways can process this data locally and instruct valves on the supply lines to close without needing the cloud.

Geofencing

Geofencing is critical for dementia patients as it helps to contain them within their home or compound’s safe boundaries. If they go outside the geofence perimeter, an alert will be sent to the caregiver to locate them using wearable tags and bring them back home.

Robots

Robots are no longer just industrial machines. They are becoming handy in healthcare home assistants to lift patients from wheelchairs to shower areas, be companions that lift the patients if they fall, remind them to take medication, provide social interactions, and keep seniors mentally alive using interactive games and activities.

Smart Glasses

Smart glasses give caregivers a first-person shooter type of view when monitoring or helping the patient remotely. This technology is handy for guiding seniors when doing certain tasks, such as wound care, or even when providing virtual consultations.

Wrapping Up

Staff shortages and an aging workforce are real challenges in the geriatric healthcare provision sector. But with smart IoT systems, these challenges can be taken care of fully or partially, as shown in the use cases above. If you’re in this field and would like to get ahead of the game, you need a reliable electronics manufacturing partner to develop such systems. OurPCB can help you through the hardware design, prototyping, and mass production of the required hardware for smart IoT geriatric healthcare provision for your business or to sell to others in a B2B model. Both options provide a win-win partnership because OurPCB manufactures and assembles high-quality PCBs and electronics at reasonable prices, which meet industry standards for your target market. Get in touch with them to learn more about their IoT device manufacturing capabilities.