Search Here

St. Charles, Missouri-based company SmartCare Consultants have developed a technology that is poised to change the way families and nursing homes take care of the elderly. The startup has been working on their cloud-based service that uses a network of sensors installed around the home. They have been working on the technology since 2012, that is now on its pilot stages in different states.

Founded by technical director Bryan Jefferson and marketing professional Scott Mosher, SmartCare intends to make the technology available worldwide this year. It will be a service that can be installed to monitor senior adults in their homes.

Forbes reported that the company's Sensor Fusion technology will use pre-programmed sensors to gather data that will help family members or senior care providers to monitor the activities of senior adults.

The sensors can be likened to a learning thermostat that can gauge and identify living patterns and activities. It will also have capabilities to report movements or activities that are unusual or outside of the senior adult's living patterns.

Mosher told the Chicago Tribune that around 80 percent of what seniors do relies on cognitive memory. They have routines that they do day in and day out. Ideally, sensors will be installed in key places of a senior's living space.

These sensors will then gather data to learn about the senior's routines and habits. The data is also communicated to the server. It will typically take the system up to 2 weeks to learn after which it will be able to send alerts or reports to the caregiver when there's a significant deviation in the pattern.

A good advantage of SmartCare's sensor technology is that it doesn't require senior adults to use wearables like necklaces or bracelets that can be uncomfortable and prone to damage or loss. The non-intrusive concept the startup designed is enough to give older people freedom and still let nurses and care professionals monitor them.

The company also plans to take their their technology further to suit the needs of those with mental conditions and developmentally challenged.