Catholic Not For Profit VMCH and Deakin University’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute have partnered with fall detection company HomeGuardian to trial devices that predict and prevent falls from occurring among older people and people with a disability.
In Australia alone, falls result in more than 240,000 hospitalisations and around 5,000 deaths a year, of which 94% are among the elderly. The trial’s aim is to drastically cut this number.
The Federal Government will back the world-first trial with a $2.65 million grant. The trial will involve thousands of HomeGuardian devices installed in VCMH residencies in Victoria over a three-year period.
The devices will alert carers to warning signs of a fall, allowing them to intervene early and prevent the fall from occurring.
“Our world-first assistive technology devices already ensure people get immediate help after a fall. We are now on a mission to go one step further and prevent what is the leading cause of injuries resulting in hospitalisation and death,” said HomeGuardian Co-CEO Kane Sajdak.
“By predicting falls, our technology has the potential to prevent the leading cause of traumatic injuries and death among the elderly and take significant pressure off healthcare and aged care systems around the world.”
HomeGuardian technology is designed for use in both care environments and private homes. It detects unusual behaviour, which triggers an alert be sent to chosen contacts without the need to press a button, make a phone call or activate an alarm.
The Deakin University research team aims to recruit 1,000 participants and will collect both technical data from HomeGuardian monitoring systems and observational studies by nurses at VMCH facilities around Australia. The Chief Investigator leading the Deakin University research team Dr Rena Logothetis said, “We are trying to predict a fall before it happens rather than caregivers or nurses being notified when a fall has happened.
“At the same time, because we are collecting a range of data both from nursing staff and from the HomeGuardian monitoring systems, we are also looking at what are the causes of a fall as well as what can be put in place to help prevent falls.”
VMCH Chief Information Officer Maria Paz said, “This technology has the potential not only to help reduce hospital admissions and injuries but also save lives.
“Even when falls don’t cause injury, they can trigger a loss of confidence and an ongoing fear of falling.”