Today, about 1/5 to 1/4 of the American and European population is over 60 years old. It is expected to increase to 1/3 by 2030. So, what?
Aging is considered to be a main cause of dependence where the elderly need help from caregivers to accomplish daily tasks (getting up / going to bed, washing, eating, shopping, medical appointments, etc.). Although some caregivers are professionals, most of them are family members or friends in the workforce trying to balance their own lives and the person they are helping. Caregivers are currently spending an average of 6 to 7 hours per day helping their loved one.
With this enormous workload, caregivers have to cope with stress, physical fatigue, going as far as mental fatigue and, a lack of available solutions to support and relieve them. With little or no respite, these caregivers become exhausted. 1 in 3 caregivers dies before the loved one they are accompanying. To meet this immense challenge, it is necessary to find technological aids for caregivers who facilitate the daily life and maintenance at home of relatives suffering from dependence.
Today, preventive solutions for home care exist, but none is really dedicated to families and the well-being of caregivers. There are many applications on the market that can meet a specific need (fall, medication, sleep analysis, cardiac monitoring, etc.) but we do not find sufficiently scalable systems for measuring behavior and alerts that can reassure caregivers in real time.
This is why new solutions must be found to better help families and meet their main needs, which are to help the dependent person become more independent. One approach could be the use of connected objects, because they could measure the daily habit of the dependent person and could predict when a problem is growing. Such a system would provide enough time for caregivers to get organized and prevent relying on emergency solutions to protect their loved ones.
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