Initial Field Test Experiments and Failure Mechanisms for a Wireless Monitoring System for Home Care

It is becoming increasingly important for countries like Japan, Finland and Italy to enable as wide as possible home care for their elderly citizens because of the rapidly changing age structure of the population and high hospital costs. Wireless sensors hidden into furnishings can provide necessary information for high quality planning of home care visits. We conducted a system field test of 37 homes and used 287 wireless sensors in them. The preliminary experiences of the availability and about failure mechanisms during the two month field trial are described. The trial system did not reach availability levels required for a commercial launch. The interpretation of the sensor data in a 24/7 call centre by nurses and the usefulness of their analysis results showed promise that due to situation analysis the number of pure status check visits to home care homes can be decreased and the overall cost reduced. At the same time the safety and the feeling of safety among the elderly can be enhanced. The interval between sensor- based home visit recommendations was shorter than expected and the concept was found to be feasible for operational usage.