AI is being applied to a wide range of the world’s problems – among them, keeping the elderly safe as they age.
Seniors overwhelmingly want to live independently: 92% of older adults say they prefer to live their final years in their current home. Indeed, the ability to live and age on their own terms gives the elderly a much-deserved sense of independence and control over the later chapter of their lives.
But an increasingly independent elderly population is accompanied by a very real fear held by both seniors and their loved ones: what happens if an emergency – like a fall, stroke, or heart attack – was to occur while a senior is home alone?
Fortunately, Artificial Intelligence can help meet this challenge. AI is behind numerous technologies that enable seamless, accurate, and personalized monitoring, allowing seniors to age at home confidently and safely. These advanced home monitoring systems can operate unobtrusively in the background, integrating an extra layer of safety into the daily lives of independent seniors at home without obstructing their regular routines or reminding them of their limitations.
Designed to adapt to the unique behaviors and needs of each individual, these technologies do more than merely keep people safe – they also promote independence while celebrating the diversity of human experiences during a unique stage of life.
Fall Detection
As one ages, everyday activities become more precarious – consider the risks for an elderly person of accidentally tripping on an upturned rug or slipping on wet bathroom tiles. In the US alone, one in five falls results in a wound such as broken bones or head injury for older adults, and falls are responsible for 32,000 senior fatalities each year.
Non-AI integrated wearables have long been in use to address these potential risks. But many everyday tasks such as sitting down or moving to and from wheelchairs share similar jerky movements with falls, causing wearable fall detection devices to become confused, spurring false alarms and creating unnecessary stress for seniors and their caretakers.
AI can play a pivotal role in solving one of the biggest challenges of fall detection: improving accuracy.
AI algorithms can be trained on a dataset of countless scenarios, adding an advanced level of accuracy in differentiating between the activities of daily living and the trajectory of falls that necessitate concern or emergency intervention. These deep learning algorithms get data from the gyroscope and accelerometer inside a wearable device – ideally worn around the neck or at the hip – to monitor speed and angular changes across three dimensions. These algorithms are called Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), and they contain a database of the gyroscopic movements associated with a variety of daily living activities. When an anomaly is registered, the device can then accurately detect when a user has suffered from a fall, but does not get confused by other types of similar movements.
Another solution is ambient, radar-based fall detection technology – which relies on sensors placed around a room, rather than a wearable device. Utilizing computer vision algorithms that process a steady stream of captured images, the radar-based technology continuously analyzes various room layouts, outdoor and indoor situations, circumstances with pets, and people of varying shapes, sizes, and ages to accurately classify and detect falls. The continually learning nature of the AI algorithm ensures that seniors can remain safely monitored even as room layouts and environments change.
When properly trained – on diverse populations of different sizes, ages, and medical limitations – AI-enabled fall detection ensures a high level of accuracy across a spectrum of scenarios. This offers a clear advantage in verifying falls, reducing stress on seniors and their loved ones, and enabling more elderly people to live on their own terms.
Overall Monitoring
Nearly 95% of people over 60 have at least one chronic condition – sufficiently monitoring these conditions is one of the biggest challenges when seniors choose to live on their own.
AI can address this issue by bolstering the telehealth solutions needed to monitor these conditions. For seniors with chronic health problems who want to age independently at home, AI-enabled devices that collect and analyze health data offer peace of mind.
Remote patient monitoring solutions equipped with AI can track a senior's vital signs in real-time – such as heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose levels – and integrate this data into electronic health records, enabling healthcare providers to proactively adjust treatment plans.
Where does this data come from?
One stream of data can be collected through a system of discreet cameras, radars, and sensors. Machine learning algorithms can then learn a senior’s routine, monitoring and analyzing their activities of daily living (ADL) such as sleep and mobility. These devices alert caregivers to subtle changes that could indicate a decline in health, such as slower walking speeds or increased time in bed.
Telehealth data is further informed by wearable devices integrated with AI, which enhance monitoring by continuously gathering and analyzing health data. For example, an AI model trained on a particular patient’s heartbeat could then detect an irregular rhythm or a sudden change in breathing and immediately notify healthcare providers. This preventive approach – one that uses advanced analytics to identify patterns and deviations in health as soon as they arise – allows for timely interventions, reducing hospitalizations and improving overall outcomes.
The biproduct of collecting and analyzing so much continuous data is that AI enables more informed decision-making, better patient outcomes, and more tailored support plans, even in the non-emergency moments. The use of AI in monitoring solutions affords caregivers and family members a holistic view of a senior’s wellbeing as they age in place, offering them the peace of mind they deserve.
Older, Wiser, Safer
Independent living is one of the things people most cherish as they age. AI is making that easier than ever before – enabling older adults to maintain their independence while ensuring their safety in case of emergencies.
By anticipating needs and emergencies before they arise, these technologies not only provide proactive and personalized care solutions that address the unique challenges of aging but offer elderly adults and their loved ones the calm and confidence they deserve knowing they are cared for.
Everyone, at any age, deserves the chance to enjoy a quality of life that balances independence with safety.
The post AI Holds the Key to a Safer and More Independent Elderly Population appeared first on Unite.AI.
