Monitoring Elders Through Data On Energy Consumption

An innovative technique has been designed in Australia to monitor elders living on their own. The technique hinges on recording data on energy consumption in the household. The system is on trial at Illawarra, New South Wales.

The technology, launched recently at the Innovation Campus of the University of Wollongong, is the creation of a collaborative team comprised of the UOW-based Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES), Illawarra Retirement Trust (IRT) and Dublin City University.

The daily routine of each household will be mapped; with the monitor sending out an alert should an
irregularity appear.

ACES Executive Director Professor Gordon Wallace said the technology would help fulfil seniors' desire for �active ageing' and an independent lifestyle within their own homes.

"By working together and combining what is available across the globe, we can realise this in a very effective and timely manner," he said.

"Installation and testing will begin in about two weeks and by the end of next year we hope to be developing wearable technology to assist seniors undergoing rehabilitation and study their movements. Everyone's looking forward to getting stuck into it!"

IRT's Luke Oborn said the technology would help seniors take greater control of their independence and reflected the role technology will play in the future of aged-care.

"Collaboration with the University of Wollongong is very important to the future of aged-care. In-home monitoring technology is just one of the many projects IRT is collaborating on with UOW and I look forward to seeing this relationship being further consolidated in the future," he said.



Source: Medindia