The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the flaws in our aged care system but we knew there were problems well before coronavirus.
Horrific tales of neglect and abuse continue to come out of the Royal Commission into Aged care and a recent survey, conducted by the Commission, found Australia’s collective idea of aged care is a ‘lonely, powerless and unhappy’ place to be.
Even in good facilities, the normal everyday operation of an institution means it can never replicate the comfort and safety people feel within their own homes.
This is why InteliCare was founded in 2016. Our platform, InteliLiving, uses artificial intelligence to subtly keep track of the everyday activities of a client and to make family members and carers aware if there are any worrying deviations that could suggest something is amiss.
Smart sensors placed around the home learn a client’s daily habits - what time they get out of bed, turn the kettle on and begin preparing breakfast. If there is a significant change or delay, an alert is sent out to the registered family member or carer, via a smart phone app, so that this person can then check in to make sure everything is ok.
The aim is to be preventative rather than reactive.
For example, getting up many times in the night can be an indication of a urinary tract infection. An undiagnosed UTI can lead to disorientation which can lead to a fall which could mean a one-way trip to a nursing home. We want to make sure that fall never happens.
As our user base increases, our predictive analytics capabilities are growing smarter. Our AI technology is learning more and more about the needs and wants of our clients and their families.
This is providing us with more concise data to assist with understanding where our technology needs to go. COVID-19 is escalating all this. In the past 12 months, InteliLiving has had an 800% increase in users and saw a 60% increase last month due to new COVID-19 related orders.
At the same time, aged care occupancy is dropping in Australia as people delay their move into it or remove their loved ones from it. All this makes it quite clear to us that we are on the right track when it comes to the future of aged care and government and industry groups are recognising it too.
We are a registered NDIS provider and the Government’s recent announcement that it will fund up to $1,000 for personal monitoring technology is providing a boost for us.
We’re also expanded our offering to include a new radar sensor which can be used to track vitals like heart rate, respiration, presence and level of activity, allowing central monitoring by staff in residential facilities. A successful trial of this technology led to an order from the WA government.
We also recently signed our first east coast sales deal with a Sydney-based independent health and community services organisation.
If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that remote monitoring will form the basis of care going forward for those that need assistance to remain at home.
Recent studies and surveys show aging in place (at home) is what most people want for the latter years.
Our technology provides this along with peace of mind for families and the easing of pressure on carers. Article written and provided by Jason Waller is the CEO and Managing Director of InteliCare, an AI-based home monitoring solution allowing people to live at home independently.
