WIRELESS SENSORS FOR NEED-BASED CARE OF THE ELDERLY

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Whether at home or at an institution, those unable or unwilling to ask for continence and repositioning assistance typically receive their care on a schedule that is suggested by various standards setting organizations based on the best available evidence about pressure ulcer and urinary tract infection prevention procedures. The practice of scheduling routine preventive care, rather than giving it just when it is actually needed by an impaired individual, is predicated on the enormous difficulty and labor intensity of determining just when any particular individual needs a particular kind of care. At heart, prescribed schedules of routine care rather than need-based care giving is done for the convenience and cost effectiveness of care delivery staff, rather than the quality of life of the recipient of that care. This is especially true of institutional care. We propose developing a moderately priced wireless sensor-based system to facilitate the giving of individualized continence and positioning assistance as it is needed. By eliminating the labor associated with those scheduled care giving episodes that are unnecessary, our system should both improve the timeliness of care delivery and improve the recipients quality of life, without incurring increased total care costs. If care delivery can be made more timely while simultaneously labor costs are reduced, there are significant implications for current concerns about nursing home staffing levels. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Nursing homes are under increasing scrutiny to demonstrate that they give good care. If successful, our project will allow nursing home staff to deliver more timely, personalized incontinence and pressure ulcer preventing repositioning care at less labor cost. Furthermore, it can document that timely care has been delivered. Because the sensors are included in disposable diapers, no additional modules need to be worn.