Over 50 million people worldwide live with dementia. A characteristic of many people with dementia is the tendency to wander which can result in an individual becoming lost with serious and even fatal outcomes. Carelink will use intelligent localisation techniques to monitor journey routes of individuals, detecting occurrences of wandering and alerting when these people deviate towards dangerous zones, thus allowing for timely interception and subsequently reduction of overall stress levels. As part of this development research we are also looking at predictive analytics to help prevent wandering, by pre-empting an occurrence and stop it before it can take place. In the requirements process, tests and trials with end-users focus groups will be conducted to gather feedback. This will be used to develop a fit-for-purpose solution. In addition, we will be providing training and information services, sharing discussions which will enable carers to better support people with dementia and the situation they find themselves in.
Objectives
The objective of CARELINK is to deliver a tracking solution that addresses the issue of wandering in People with Dementia (PwD), allowing carers to monitor PwD. Using current machine-learning technologies we will profile user routes that can then be used to build a repository of route patterns to be compared against live routes, thus allowing for early warnings if deviation that looks like a wandering event occurs. This will be backed up by dissemination and knowledge exchange functionality to keep carers and interested parties up to date with the latest development and information related to the condition.
Expected results and impact
CARELINK intends to deliver a low-cost, low-energy connected health solution for carers to monitor the location and proximity of their loved ones with Dementia. This will be delivered through a tailored wireless sensor network which will be developed to support the location and proximity tracking. The platform will learn of patients’ location movements, thus allowing patterns to be built up for future detection of pattern change in behaviour. This will improve the probability of survival following a wandering event and will improve the quality of care for People with Dementia.
Partners
Partners involved in the CARELINK project
- Project name: CARELINK for People with Dementia and their community
- Website: http://carelink-aal.org
- Coordinator: Waterford Institute of Technology – TSSG
- Duration: 30 months
- Starting date: 01.08.2017
- Total budget: €2,282,944
- Public contribution: €1,505,155
Contact
Gary McManus
E.: gmcmanus@tssg.org
T.: +353 87 643 2221
