The benefits of technology enabled care for those living with dementia
As part of the NHS Care City Test Bed, Canary Care worked with the North East London Foundation Trust and the four local authorities that the Trust partners with (Barking & Dagenham, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, and Havering), to demonstrate the benefits of technology enabled care for those living with dementia.
Care City developed the Test Bed with the hopes that new technologies would be rolled out across the NHS community. Canary Care was used in Cluster 3 of the test bed - Carer Resilience. The Canary Care motion sensors and door sensors were placed around the home to identify deviations in the activities of a client and to send alerts to that client’s carers. For example, if the data suggests, that an external door has been left open, the client is not using the kitchen, the client is not spending the night in their bedroom, or the client has fallen etc.
Benefits of Motion and Door sensors in Dementia Care
There are a host of benefits for using motion and door sensors to remotely care for those living with Dementia at home. Implementing enabled living technology can provide detailed insights into the routine activities of patients, identifying abnormalities in real-time and supporting timely intervention when needed.
What Activities Can Our Door and Motion Sensors Track?
Property exit: By setting up a ‘House Unoccupied’ rule in the Canary Care portal, our sensors can track when patients unexpectedly exit the property and have not returned within a specific time frame. This feature operates in two stages:
Arming: The rule will ‘arm’ when movement is detected by the specified sensor monitoring exit routes from the property.
Triggering: If no other sensor detects activity within a set time frame, indicating an exit and that the property is unoccupied.
Bathroom visits: Frequent night-time bathroom visits could be a sign of disturbed sleep that suggests something isn’t quite right. Placing our motion sensors either next to the bed or on the bathroom door can allow carers to view if irregular routines become consistent – allowing carers to step in when needed and address the issue head-on.
Food and drink consumption: If carers are concerned that their patient isn’t eating or drinking at regular times throughout the day, placing a door magnet and a multifunction sensor on cupboard doors, drawers, and fridges can provide insights into dietary routines – allowing carers to effectively address concerns by giving a quick call to see what’s going on.
“The testing we conducted generated a lot of learning, which is now put to work, improving services in East London and helping solutions to spread beyond our locality.” – Care City
A case study is available for download, which describes the experience of one family who used Canary Care to help keep an eye on their elderly mother (Mary) who has severe dementia.
“It’s good peace of mind; it’s great to be able to keep an eye on where she is and what she is doing.” — Mrs Smith, Carer using Canary Care for her elderly mother, Essex
Find out more about the programme on the Care City website.
