Wireless Night Time Dementia Alarm
February 22, 2016 in Challenge
The Request
A head nurse at a local care home came to us to request a wireless alarm system that alerted her when one of her residential dementia patients gets out of bed during the night and wanders around, potential hurting themselves.
The Current Problem
The current type of device that is used at the care home is shown below, the device works using a pressure sensor that is either placed under the mattress of the bed or next to the bed under a mat or rug. The sensor is triggered when weight is applied then removed, upon removal or weight an alarm box is triggered that is connected to the sensor via a cable. The problem is that when the alarm is triggered it scares the elderly patient which can result in injury or even seizures. So the nurse wanted the alarm box to be wireless allowing her and her team to have it either with them or in their office, where it could alert them to problems without causing the patient distress.
Do you have a solution to this problem, either adapting the existing device or producing a new one?
Marcel Lenormand said on February 19, 2018
A PIR motion sensor would be useful here. It would need to be shielded so that minor movements in bed don’t trigger it.
Maybe a quaint analog bell — like a very old door bell or servants bell — could be positioned outside the room to alert staff? Different tones for each person?