Seniors have been unfairly impacted by the restrictions designed to stop the spread of COVID-19, but not just because of the devastating effects of social isolation. Their safety is also an issue.
During this pandemic, families and home care service providers that watch over seniors are less likely to check-in on them to make sure they are safe.
These three Vancouver startups are doing making a difference when it comes to caring for our seniors.
Tochtech Technologies
Tochtech has developed Sleepsense, a non-wearable sleep tracker that allows caregivers to monitor the overnight safety of older adults. Sleepsense is designed to monitor residents and alert caregivers when a resident experiences a health risk, such as an abnormal heart or breathing rate, during sleep.
About the size of a mobile phone, the Sleepsense device is placed under the leg or frame of the bed. It uses high-precision sensors and algorithm technology to measure BCG waves (ballistic forces generated by the heart) and report heart and respiration rates. Notifications and alarms also go to mobile devices carried by staff.
Sleepsense monitors residents’ quality of sleep and sleep patterns, and notifies caregivers if a resident is getting out of bed, allowing staff to intervene and avert a potential fall or wandering. It detects body movement and vital signs no matter where the sleeper is positioned on the bed. The resident does not have to wear any technology or sleep on a smart bed pad.
Continuously monitoring residents as they sleep augments the in-person checks that staff in long-term care are required to conduct throughout the night.
AltumView
AltumView is using artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor seniors and report emergencies instantly to their family or caregiver.
AltumView‘s Sentinare Smart Activity Sensor is a fall prevention sensor that can monitor the movements and activities of a senior and detect emergencies like falls, waving for help, and wanderings, which are common among patients with dementia.
The system reports these incidents in real time using an app that can be accessed anywhere using a mobile. It is also capable of fall risk assessment by providing a visual heat map of an area where falls have frequently occurred. This allows the caregiver to take measures, such as removing certain obstacles or blocking access to that location, to prevent similar accidents from happening again.
Concerned about the privacy of the senior? The Sentinare Smart Activity Sensor is capable of maintaining the privacy of the person being monitored by showing the caregiver a stick-figure animation instead of a raw video.
This week AltumView has been named a CES 2021 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Health & Wellness category for its Sentinare 2 smart activity sensor.
Traction Guest
Traction Guest is doing their part to make long-term care facilities safer for residents and their guests during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the company’s Guest for Good program, Traction Guest is offering its visitor management platform to care homes on a grant basis for those that cannot afford to invest in the technology.
By installing a visitor management system with touchless sign-in and sign-out, high-risk care facilities can provide a safe onsite experience for visitors while keeping residents and employees safe.
Traction Guest’s screening tools provide care facilities with a secure way to invite and pre-screen visitors before granting onsite access. If an individual is deemed high risk, their invitation is revoked. In addition, they are flagged on a watchlist and all care facility team members are notified if the visitor decides to show up anyway.
When a person tests positive for COVID-19, it is critical to inform visitors and residents. Visitor forensics allow frontline workers to identify and communicate the risk to exposed parties. Care homes that need to track contractors and health care providers can quickly conduct contact tracing including which facilities were visited and who they interacted with.