Using sensors to support aging at home

The use of sensors could allow older Australians to remain in their homes for longer, according to some experts.

Led by the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN), a consortium of universities and aged care industry groups have developed the Healthy at Home initiative — which involves working with older Australians to create a tech-driven care model that optimises the health care they receive at home. This model is also less expensive than hospital care or aged care.

The group formed after the 2021 Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, when the federal government’s Aged Care Taskforce emphasised that older Australians increasingly preferred to remain in their homes rather than move to residential care facilities. To accommodate this shift, the consortium suggested that current aged care infrastructure and government-funded aged care packages must support financially sustainable home-based care solutions.

The Healthy at Home initiative is investigating the use of data collected by sensors to significantly increase people’s quality of life when aging at home and keep them out of hospital and aged care. This move comes as the government and opposition are on the verge of a deal which, according to speculation, may involve the increase of residential aged care fees.

“Sensors can capture lifestyle and biometric data such as body position, movement and activity, sleep quality, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, body temperature, heart rhythm and rate, blood oxygen, fatigue levels and respiration rate,” said Catherine Oates Smith, NSSN Human Health Theme Leader.

“It makes financial sense to send the data picked up by sensors to families, carers and telehealth operators to support an older Australian in their home, instead of them having to go to hospital or an aged care facility if they really don’t need to be there.

“For example, there are sensors that can predict if someone will soon have a fall. This information can trigger urgent, preventative alerts to family, carers and telehealth operators so that action can be taken to support the aging person in their home, instead of them having to go to the hospital or an aged care facility.”

Members of the Healthy at Home consortium include six NSW universities (UTS, UNSW, University of Newcastle, Macquarie University, University of Sydney and the University of Wollongong), seven Australian innovation companies and three NSW Local Health Districts.

The group has three projects underway aimed at reducing aged care nursing home numbers and taking the strain off a heavily burdened system. One is a survey of over 1000 older Australians on their attitudes to aged care-related sensor technology in their home. This project includes one-on-one interviews which will contribute to a better understanding of how technology can be effectively integrated into homes to support Australia’s aging population.

“We want to know more about how older Australians feel about using sensors in their home to monitor their health. We’re asking them if they feel confident using the technology, how much they would be willing to pay for it, and if they are concerned about data security,” said Professor Jason Prior from the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures. “Their responses will help inform industry and government about how to roll out these devices.”

Another project will identify a set of health measures for older citizens, like breathing and heart rate, which will trigger an alert for emergency help when needed. “There is a set of measures for when a person is in hospital called Between the Flags. But there is no such set of measures which could trigger an alert for aging people being cared for in their home,” said University of Newcastle FASTLab Founder and Director Professor Paul Egglestone.

A third project is a 12-month trial of hearing loss screening and education as part of routine wellbeing checks performed by Meals on Wheels (MoW) volunteers to older Australians in Sydney.

The consortium believes there are clear benefits to home-based care supported by technology such as sensors but said governments have been slow to adopt innovative solutions.

“We know that we have a shortage of beds in hospitals and aged care facilities, and we also know people really just want to stay in their homes than go to a nursing home,” Oates Smith said. “If technology can be deployed to help them do that, then this is what the Healthy at Home initiative is all about.”

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