Locating the Elderly Overseen by Nurses

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed effort aims to exploit advances in a new wireless tracking technology Near Field Electromagnetic Ranging (NFER) to improve the quality and efficiency of health care for residents of nursing homes. Our System, Locating the Elderly Overseen by Nurses (LEON), will address several core needs in nursing homes including, a) provide a much needed metric to measure the quality of care within nursing homes, b) enable caregivers in nursing homes to work more efficiently and provide higher quality of care by allowing them to know precisely the location of the senior citizen. c) increase patient safety by providing him or her with an alert button if there is a medical emergency that will immediately provide the locationof the distressed ambulatory resident. d) provide a wander alert capability for senior citizens suffering from dementia, and e) provide valuable clinical data such as changes in mobility. Existing wireless tracking technologies have tried for decades toprovide the above capabilities. A breakthrough in wireless indoor tracking technology can unlock this market, NFER(R). It allows for tracking in complicated and complex environments to 1-3 foot accuracy and with long range of up to 200 ft. In order addressthe aforementioned issues of concern to the National Institute of Aging, LEON will incorporate several design improvements with the goal of making a smaller, lighter, more durable tag appropriate for use within an assisted living facility. Our healthcarepartners Brookdale Place and the University of Alabama, Huntsville will define a proof-of-concept study. This study will focus on monitoring the quality of care provided to the elderly by documenting encounters between healthcare professionals and residents that can be carried out in a Phase II. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Q-Track Locating the Elderly Overseen by Nurses (LEON) System will benefit the nursing home elderly and the nursing staff by finding the elderly faster, locate them more quickly in an emergency, reduce wandering, and record the periods of staff interactions. The Q-Track Corporation has a cost effective innovative system to track the elderly in a nursing home that will increase the quality of care and improve the efficiency of the nursing staff. Previous tracking systems were too bulky, expensive, or did not provide sufficient accuracy. The Q-Track team includes Brookdale Place, the largest elderly care provider in the nation and the University of Alabama Huntsville College of Nursing to provide the voice of the customer.