Project description
Caring for senior citizens with smart motion
Rapid population ageing in Europe has resulted in more than a hundred million people providing informal, unpaid care to their elderly relatives. About 50 % of these unofficial caregivers are also fully employed. However, as age-related conditions accelerate, some people are required to quit their job and fully dedicate themselves to caregiver duties, with severe consequences for their economic and psychological well-being. The EU-funded SAFELDER project will mitigate the phenomenon by bringing to market a novelty solution: a multi-sensor device based on advanced detection of sound and motion. It will monitor the elderly persons and their home environments, respecting their privacy and at the same time enabling their safety and support.
Objective
In the middle of 21st century Europe will become ‘the oldest continent’ in demographical terms. Obviously, the older we get the more susceptible to age related diseases (i.e. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease) and inevitable physical limitations we become. Many seniors cannot live without daily care, either formal or informal. Today, more than 100 million of Europeans provide informal care for their relatives and half of them combine unpaid and informal care with employment. About 7% of male and 11% of female employees regularly share their time between job and care duties. It equals from 50 % to 90 % of the overall cost of formal long-term care provision.
As the disease progresses, a senior usually requires more and more care. This, sooner or later, leads an informal caregiver (most of them are women) to the decision on job resignation: 21% of informal carers in Europe reduced their working hours and 18% withdraw from the labour market. Currently approx. 42% of non-working carers are in the lowest income quartile and 59% of non-working carers have difficulty making ends meet (compared to 24% and 46% for non-carers respectively). The prevalence of mental health problems among informal carers is 20% higher than among non-carer
We have developed Point - a smart, multi sensor device for home security. Point strikes a balance between privacy and the need for monitoring. Thanks to its unique sound and motion recognition capabilities Point is a credible alternative to cameras. Point can also detect changes in the home environment, i.e. temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, ambient light and smoke. Through Point’s mobile application, families, neighbours and friends can communicate and work together to look after their homes.In this project, we will define the technical and business requirements for a successful commercial launch of Point in the elderly care market segment.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensors
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurologyparkinson
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementemployment
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesmeteorologyatmospheric pressure
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
211 30 MALMO
Sweden
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.