McMaster Smart Home for Aging-in-PlacE (SHAPE)
The infrastructure is based on a retrofitted residential house to develop and test smart technology for long term health monitoring of older adults living in their own homes.
The motivation behind developing a smart home for health monitoring is centered around two key aspects: (i) cost of care and (ii) quality of care. The public expenditure on health care in Ontario alone surpassed $50 billion in 2014. Our proposed strategy to reduce the growing financial and social pressure is to create a health institution within the home, allowing doctors and other healthcare providers to monitor and analyze the health of their patients remotely using low-cost non-invasive sensor and network technologies that are installed innocuously within the home. The project entails retrofitting the interior of the house to develop and test smart technology that will enable older people to live in their homes longer. The entire project combines a wide variety of sensors and cutting-edge technologies in an innovative manner to monitor the health of seniors. As well as helping older patients to live more safely and independently in their own homes, the research project seeks to relieve the burden on family members and caregivers, and reduce non-emergency visits to the hospital.
Smart IPS Study
What is a “Smart home”?
With an increase in the ageing and disabled populations, there is a rise in the need for home rehabilitation to understand the needs of elderly users. Through monitoring, individuals can understand the indoor patterns of users struggling with dementia or other health complications. In addition, by examining the physical activity and behaviour of older adults, it is possible to detect abnormal events, such as falls, seizures or loss of consciousness. A Smart Home allows clinicians to monitor one’s health and physical activity with the incorporation of various sensors, cameras, and other devices. The data collected can provide insight as to how users live their daily lives while coping with a disease or their response to a certain therapy. Furthermore, IPS can be easily integrated into a Smart Home due to its ability to connect various types of devices together. IPS consists of different technologies working together, and Smart Homes are designed to allow for the use of this technology. Overall, Smart Homes allow at-risk individuals to continue to live independently for a longer period.