Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

According to Statistics Canada the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population is the "over 65" age category. With increasing age, come the challenges of maintaining mobility, maintaining cognitive function, and keeping increasing numbers of medical problems under control. Many seniors end-up in a hospital setting, or in an institution with a high level of clinician based monitoring, where the cost of care is very high. Allowing older adults to live independently while being monitored is the preferred option for most adults. Many studies have shown that independant living leads to a better quality of life for older adults and reduces the deterioration in their cognitive abilities. This issue is becoming an increasing priority for governments faced with an aging population and limited human and fiscal resources. Research into technologies that enable older adults to live independently will therefore improve their quality of life while reducing the cost of healthcare delivery.The main objective of this project is to investigate and propose different approaches that could be used to monitor the health and well-being of older adults living in their own homes or in long-term care facilities. This proposed approaches are non-intrusive and do not require any intervention from the home occupant. To achieve this goal, "Smart Environments" are equipped with many sensor systems. The sensors vary from simple binary sensors, simple analog sensors, to complex sensor systems. The data from the various sensors is collected and analyzed. It can reveal significant information about the health, well being, and behaviour of the home occupant. Once an abnormal situation is detected, the system initiates the appropriate response such as an audio cue, a call to the next of kin, a call to a designated health professional, a report to a health monitoring organization, or in case of emergencies, a call to 911. Abnormal situations range from sleeping disturbances, to variations in bed entry/exit routines, fever, breathing problems, or falls.