OPENINC VIGNETTE: ELITE CARE SUPPORTED BY INTELLICENT SYSTEMS
15.1 OPENINC VIGNETTE: ELITE CARE SUPPORTED BY INTELLICENT SYSTEMS
Delivering health services to the elderly is becoming a major societal problem in many countries, especially in countries where there are relatively fewer and fewer young people to take care of more and more elderly. The problem is already acute in Japan, and it is expected to be very serious in 10-15 years in several European countries and in China. The specific delivery depends on the health status of the individual, ~nd it is provided in different facilities ranging from home care to nursing homes.
Managing and delivering such care involves large number of diversified decisions, ranging from allocation of resources to determining what treatment to provide to each patient at each given time.
Elderly residents in assisted-living facilities require different levels of care. Some residents need minimal assistance, others have short-term memory problems, and yet others have more severe problems like Alzheimer's disease, and so require more super- vision and help. At Elite Care's Estates Cluster Residential Care Facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, pervasive computing and intelligent systems are being used to increase the autonomy and care level of all of the residents, regardless of their individual needs.
Elite Care is a family-owned business (elite-care. com), built from the ground up to provide "high-tech, high-touch" programs. Its advisory committee, which include, among others, representatives from the Mayo Clinic, Harvard University, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and Sandia National Laboratory, has contributed a number of ideas that have been put into practice.
The entire facility is wired with a 3D-mile network (wireline and wireless) of unob- trusive sensors and other devices, including:
Biosensors (e.g., weight sensors) attached to each resident's bed.
Movement sensors embedded in badges worn by the residents and staff (wear-
able computers). Panic buttons used to call for help. Internet access accessible via touch screens in each room. Video conferencing using Webcams. Climate control, lights, and other regulated appliances.
The results collected by the monitoring devices are interpreted by intelligent systems, allowing the staff to determine: Patient location; indicating whether the resident is in an expected area of the facility.
Weight loss; indicating conditions like impending congestive heart failure. Restlessness at night; indicating conditions like insufficient pain medication. Frequency of trips to the bathroom; indicating medical problems like infection.
PART V IMPLEMENTING MSS IN THE E-BuSINESS ERA
Close monitoring of conditions also allows for giving medicine and/or other treatments as needed, rather than at a predetermined time. This enables true one-to-one care, which is both more effective and less expensive.
One of the initial concerns with the monitors was that the privacy of the residents would be unnecessarily invaded. To alleviate these concerns, residents and their families are given the choice of participating or not. Most of them choose to participate because the
families believe that the monitors provide better tracking and care. The monitors also increase the autonomy of the patients, since they lessen the need for staff to constantly monitor residents in person, especially those with more acute care needs.
All of the sensors and intelligent systems are connected through a high-speed ethernet. The data produced by thee sensors and systems is stored in an SQL database and can be used to alert the staff in real-time if necessary; The data are analyzed to determine patients' health status and to develop individualized care programs. The same database is also used for administrative purposes, such as monitoring staff performance in timely delivery.
A similar concept is used in Swan Village of Care in Bentley, Australia. At the present time such projects are experimental and expensive, but someday they will be affordable to many .