Implementing Assistive Tech solutions designed to detect and prevent trips and falls among elderly individuals.

Using tech in care homes to identify people at risk of falls using 4D imaging sensors and at home technology to prompt and support people with their medications.

Following a successful funding bid from the Government’s Adult Social Care Technology Fund, the London Borough of Redbridge has commissioned us as its Implementation Partner, to conduct an 18-month pilot aimed at implementing Assistive Technology solutions designed to detect and prevent trips and falls among elderly individuals. The pilot will be implemented across three care settings: care homes, extra care facilities, and reablement.

Why this is important

Falls are the biggest cause of accidents in the home and one in three people over the age of 65 fall each year. This increases to one in two for people aged over 80. Falls can have a devastating impact on older people and can lead to further physical, mental and emotional consequences and can result in loss of independence, long term falls-related illness and death.

Those who experience falls can often need to be admitted to hospital to receive care for their injuries. The early detection of falls will help to ease the pressure on emergency services, reducing the number of avoidable hospital admissions and the number of 999 calls relating to falls which will benefit the wider local health system.

Context and Aims of the pilot

The 18 month pilot forms part of Redbridge Council’s broader Assistive Technology Programme, which is exploring how care technology can improve services for people drawing on care services and for staff, while also saving costs through early intervention and prevention. Through consultation with technology providers, local residents, and staff, to identify opportunities and challenges, the programme seeks to determine the best models for care technology implementation and ensure the right culture, data skills, and operational practices are in place.

As their Implementation Partner, Care City will be working with LBR in the pilot to put technology into care homes that can identify people at risk of falls, and  we will be introducing at-home technology to prompt and support people with their medications. We will help pilot selected technology in CQC registered care homes, extra-care facilities and within clients’ homes via the local falls team and Redbridge reablement service. This will later be evaluated by Apteligen, to assess the potential of assistive technology to reduce the number and severity of falls occurring in different care settings across the borough.

Alongside this aspect of the programme,  we will also be working with LBR to :

• Develop an AT catalogue for LBR – We will identify existing  technology solutions on the market that meet the needs of users and offer cost benefits. We will then package these into an Assistive Technology catalogue for the LBR Adult Social Care teams, designed in partnership with staff, people who use services and local residents, incooporating learning from the pilot. This catalogue will be available as a centralised resource for care teams and, together with a tech showcase we will organise, will help to increase awareness of the different AT currently available and the range of situations that they can benefit.
  
• Support cultural change around AT – We will also be helping to embed a culture change around assistive technology within the adult social care service, working with providers and service users to understand their attitudes and concerns around tech and its increasing role in care. This means we’ll explore potential use cases for new tech, and wider digital skills gaps and cultural factors that can support or hamper successful implementation (e.g., workforce beliefs about the ethics of A.I)

Meet our current technology partners in this pilot

Feebris have developed a comprehensive solution that enables the assessment of a multitude of risks that could lead to preventable falls. The platform includes the capability to monitor mobility patterns, related to frailty, in a non invasive way.

The MiiCube leverages AI to enhance the well-being, independence, and reablement of older adults, offering personalised assistance, real-time monitoring, and anomaly detection, complemented by a range of smart health devices for better support.

Whzan Guardian is a collection of discreet wireless sensors placed throughout the home – using AI to monitor behaviour and the environment according to need. It detects movement, open windows and doors, electronic devices such as kettles and fridge doors, temperature, damp and cold and much more, checking activity, nourishment, hydration and medication.

Supporting LBBD’s Programme

We are also working as the Evaluation Partner to London Borough of Barking and Dagenham who have also received funding and will be working with partners to roll-out and review a wide range of digital care technologies, including video and
communication devices, smart home technology as well as sensors for falls detection. All these new digital tools will help to support people in care settings to feel more confidence in their home surroundings, with the risk of falls being carefully monitored.