IoT for Assisted Living

The UK is facing a social care crisis with reduced budgets and increased demand. Events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, further exacerbate the challenge local authorities and private care providers face and the concern felt by relatives of vulnerable people. Sadly, many service users have accidents or become ill and are unable to raise an alert. This can result in serious illness and even death. Recognising this situation, we have developed and deployed an unobtrusive IoT solution that helps care providers prioritise visits to service users that may be experiencing ill health or that may have had an accident.

This is achieved by monitoring the typical behaviours and activities of users in their home and raising alerts in the event of significant deviation from the norm. These tested methods allows care providers to take remedial action quickly, thus reducing the chance of continued illness and complications arising from injuries. Unlike many IoT solutions, our devices do not require power, internet connectivity or service user interaction, meaning that even incapacitated individuals are not left unattended for longer than necessary. This really is a life saving solution.

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How It Works

Our Assisted Living solution is aimed at Vulnerable Independent People (VIP's). A VIP is both Vulnerable (living alone) and Independent (they can sustain themselves by preparing their own food and beverages).

A device, small enough to be posted through a standard letterbox, is sent to a VIP through the post and, when received, is simply removed from its easy-to-tear packaging, positioned on a kitchen shelf, and that's it. Nothing further for the VIP to do. No switches or buttons to press, no wires or plugs, no batteries to fit, no passwords to enter... nothing else for the VIP to do. A completely zero-effort socially distanced installation. The device then immediately begins to get to work!

The device communicates using a technology called LPWAN for five years on its pre-installed batteries, transmitting atmospheric conditions to the cloud; no internet connection is needed. Our cloud analytics software platform establishes a pattern of behaviour over the first couple of days. Events such as washing dishes or cooking a meal, or preparing drinks represent subtle changes to atmospheric conditions, allowing our cloud analytics software platform to identify human activity.

If the VIP's activity changes significantly, then email or SMS alerts are automatically sent. These alerts allow care providers and family members to call or visit the VIP to assess the situation and identify whether intervention is required.

Care visits are only as good as their frequency allows, and an incident can occur soon after a carer leaves the VIP's home. Our solution's approach means that potential incidents are identified very quickly so appropriate action can be taken. Furthermore, the activity data can identify patterns and trends of behaviour, enabling the early detection of slowly reduced activity over long periods, predicting and forecasting potential issues before they happen.

In addition to alerting when reduced activity levels are detected, the solution also raises alerts when a risk to fuel poverty is detected.