You cannot buy it today and it is not yet available in any nursing or elderly facility in Singapore. The new technology is developed by CarePredict, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based startup aimed at improving seniors’ quality of life with machine learning-driven wearables and is being tested today in senior living facilities in the USA. They plan to officially launch sometime this year but it is unclear when CarePredict will it be available in Singapore.

As caregivers, whether at home or senior living facility, we often miss the subtle observations about the senior’s rhythm-of-life changes – some refer to it as Activities for Daily Living(ADL). Changes may include progressively walking less or sleeping more. These minor changes in and of itself are not alarming and often go unnoticed. CarePredict can analyse such minor changes in the individual’s daily tempo over time and reports these trends to predict health problems. By using artificial intelligence technology, CarePredict can alert caregivers to the individual’s decline in health and provide clear data to take necessary action before the condition worsen. Today, the technology is designed to predict increasing fall risk, urinary tract infections, malnutrition and depression.

How does this actually work? Good news is that it is quite simple and easy to use. Unlike digital cameras, they do not invade the individual’s privacy and only captures tracking data that relates to daily living.

• The senior is required to wear a device on the wrist that would capture a wide range of daily living activities such as eating, drinking, bathing, grooming, brushing teeth, toileting, walking, sitting, sleeping and more. Working with indoor sensors, CarePredict also knows what rooms those activities are occurring. All the data is then uploaded and analysed.
• The system also installs sensors indoors that acts like your GPS and can tell what room the senior is in at any given time. Working in tandem with the wrist-worn device, it is able to tell you what activity is occurring and in which room.
• All the data is then analysed using machine learning technology and helps CarePredict recognise trends. These trends can then predicts emerging physical or mental health risks for the senior.
• Depending on the nature and urgency of the risk, CarePredict will send an alert to caregivers or loved ones that are programmed to receive such alerts. In an emergency, the system will be able to pin-point the location in the building.

While AI technology is still relatively new in elderly care, CarePredict is a good indication for how such technology can help improve care and possibly reduce cost in Singapore in the near future.