Smarter Safer Homes for the Ageing Pilot Study to determine the feasibility of using environmental sensor and iPad technologies to facilitate safe independent living for older Australians.

Smarter, Safer Homes for the Ageing Pilot Study using home environmental sensor data to derive a measure of functional independence in healthy elderly independent living people and assess the impact of the solution on their Quality of Life and Family Quality.

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12613001311741

Acronym

SSH

Enrollment

Registered

2013-11-25

Start date

2013-02-06

Completion date

2013-06-04

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

The main aim of the study is to develop a home monitoring solution to enable people to remain safely and independently in their own homes for longer. Through the use of remote monitoring via non-invasive, passive sensors and medical devices, it will be possible to monitor a person’s overall activities of daily living for example whether they are sleeping well, eating enough and staying active; their social interactions, their home environment such as temperature and humidity and, as required, monitoring of their physical health, especially for those who are living with a chronic disease. This information gathered will be analysed for presentation that would be easy to understand format to help a person manage their own health and well-being, and, if they so choose, to also provide that information to their families or carers or even health service providers, to enable appropriate support to be provided when and as needed. We also wish to further enhance participants’ wellbeing by providing easy access to high quality videoconferencing technology, to keep them connected socially but also to service providers when required. The solution will also be assessed for its capability to allow for remote consulting with care providers, providing the clinician with a comprehensive picture of the person and their overall health and wellbeing over a period of time. This solution is made possible by the National Broadband Network, which enables reliable transmission of large amounts of data and makes uninterrupted videoconferencing possible.

Interventions

No specific intervention or treatment. All participant homes will have environmental sensors and medical devices installed for health, wellbeing and activity monitoring and a corresponding support tablet PC and application over a period of 6 months. Environmental sensors are: *Motion sensor – detects indoor movements *Power sensor – detects power usages of electrical appliances *Reed switch – detects open/close of doors including front/back doors, kitchen cabinets, wardrobes *Temperature/humidity – detects changes in temperature or humidity in bathroom or kitchen *Circuit meter sensor –detects power usages of kitchen stoves *Accelerometer – detect movements on beds, such as tossing and turning during sleep *Acoustic sensor – detect water flows inside kitchen taps Medical devices are: *Withings scale – measures human body weight *FORA D40 – measures blood pressure *FORA D40 – measures blood glucose level *Oricom NFS100- measures body temperature Information from sensors will be collected and made available to participants for a period of 6 months in an easy to understand format on iPads to provide an overview of their health, well-being and activity levels. Furthermore, data will be analysed to assess for correlations with episodes of illness and to determine a new way of scoring daily activity for health and wellbeing monitoring purposes. A corresponding Internet portal application will be provided to their family, friend or relative assigned by the participant.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

70 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

*Over 70 years of age *have an Internet Service Provider (ISP) connection to the National Broadband Network’s high speed broadband *are living independently *require no home care support *has significant others who are not co-located in the same residence but are located in another town, region or location in Australia *remain in town for the period of the study (up to 18 months - 18 months includes the time from participant enrollment through NBN installation, sensor implementation, testing, 6 months of observation, and follow-up)

Exclusion criteria

*Live in an aged care facility *have constant 24 hr/7 day a week nursing support *are living in residences of nursing home facility *no internet access *unwilling to utilise a touch screen device for connectivity

Outcome results