Called the Smarter Safer Homes (SSH) sensor-based platform, the technology features ambient sensors that collect data from the physical environment within the home and uses artificial intelligence to turn that data into relevant information.


The Dementia and Aged Care Services (DACS) trial of the SSH platform involved 195 participants who tested the sensors in their homes.
The platform itself features an in-home monitoring system for data collection, a cloud computing server for data analyses, and a client module for data presentation, with a tablet app, a family portal, and a service provider portal.
The sensor’s technology works by allowing service providers, family members and other caregivers to check a data dashboard that reveals patterns in an older person’s behaviour.

The Advantage

Any changes in the patterns may indicate a need for action. For example, if mobility patterns change, this may suggest a fall or injury, prompting a check-in.
From a service provider perspective, the CSIRO says one of the main advantages of the platform is that it offers them the chance to gain quantitative information about a client’s functional independence over time.
The research group’s e-health Research Centre CEO David Hansen said trials of the system found significant evidence that older people living with SSH showed a marked decrease in their quality of life than the control group who relied on their usual community care routines.
 “The outcomes of the trial reveal that the SSH technology is beneficial in ensuring older people can live independently in their home for longer,” Dr Hansen said.

Family Connection

Co-author of the report, CSIRO’s Liesel Higgins, said it was hoped the technology would take the guesswork away from the question of well-being when families were not able to be around.
“The platform is perfect for connecting families living apart, as people often are these days. Say there’s a family member in Brisbane, another in Adelaide and an ageing parent living in a rural town. SSH would help the family to support their parent from a distance. In addition to community aged care supports, the technology could allow the parent to stay in their home for longer if they wish,” Ms Higgins said.