Safer life for people with dementia

Researchers at the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering, BIME, have developed an innovative ‘smart’ sensing systems that will help the UK’s 700,000 dementia sufferers live independently at home could be available commercially. With funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the systems incorporate specially developed, cutting-edge sensor, electronics and IT capabilities.

At two care homes in London and the West Country trial systems have been in operation for over one year. The systems help people with dementia live safely and with more control over their lives. The system helps also reduce the burden on the families as well as on professional carers and healthcare budgets.

BIME director professor Roger Orpwood says: “The driver really has been to arrive at a creative engineering solution that addresses real problems faced by real people with real needs. The key is to focus on enabling people, not on taking decisions away from them.” It is envisaged that systems installed in domestic properties would function on a simple ‘plug in and use’ basis, with minimal visibility or intrusiveness.

The key will be to tailor them to individual requirements and ensure that they act as much like a live-in carer as possible. For example, voice-prompts can utilise the voices of relatives or friends to deliver reassuring messages, as well as to influence behaviour.

The systems are also designed to be monitored remotely via computer by healthcare professionals.