6 in 10 elderly experience a fall every year. Not receiving assistance within the first hour of a fall event can lead to serious complications or even be life threatening. Current solutions in the market mostly have issues of privacy and security, and often give false alarms.
How can we alert people to these fall incidents in a timely, reliable manner, without endangering one’s privacy?
HomePal is an integrated platform that consolidates alerts from various monitoring devices into a reliable source for fall incidents, allowing caregivers to codependently monitor and take actions.
Using a proprietary software that operates the sensors, the platform is suited for use in areas where privacy is valued and for notifying caregivers to emergency events when it happens.
With a high accuracy rate and AI powered verifications, it minimises false alarms, allowing caregivers to focus on the senior’s wellbeing.
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
I will call 995 for assistance. I will immediately go to the unit to check out the elderly.
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
Yes. The leg is weak and hence fall down. It hit the back of the head and there is massive bleeding. It happen at home near the bedroom and toilet. Family member helped as they were at home.
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
No devices installed. Not too sure how it worked.
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
call ambulance
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
no
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
NA
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
i have to wait until i read the whole message?
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
yes, my grandma. shes bedridden now.
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
cctv
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
Immediately call the hotlines indicated
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
Yes, fell in the bathroom at home, afternoon, the maid helped first and informed the son to come over
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
CCtv
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
I will personally head to the unit to check on the elderly. Once situation established, I will call the emergency hotline to seek assistance.
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
Yes, in her home. It was before lunch, it was a neighbour that my family would usually help buy lunch for. So when we went over to pass her the lunch, we learn that she has fallen.
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
None, my parents are still healthy and relatively young.
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
I will try my best to get as many people as i can to help me with the situation
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
not really, but i have heard stories from my parents. They have told me that even the slightest fall causes a very bad injury for them since they are more susceptible to it. The worse part is, it takes a longer time for them to heal.
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
CCTV
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
Call ambulance to the older person\'s residence immediately.
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
NIL.
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
NIL.
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
call 999
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
my grandma. Toilet, wee hours in the morning like 3am,me, sprain her ankle
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
a bell which we bought for my grandma to press when she needs help
In response to "If you see this help alert (image here) activated, what would you do?"
Call police and also head to the unit to see if any help is needed.
In response to "Have you known of any elderly who have experienced a fall? If yes, what happened? (where, time of day, who came to help, severity of the fall)"
Yes, fell down the stairs. Have to admit to hospital.
In response to "Which monitoring systems or devices do you have at home? (e.g. CCTV, sensors, for safety, elderly, toddler, anti-theft, etc)"
None.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Can have a fall alert app. E.g. Elderly fell down and a watch alerts the fall to 995 and the caregiver of the location and a loud alert is provided to catch neighbours attention to help the elderly.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
problem can be solved via apple watch or smart watches though... should consider other areas to solve
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Potentially \"adopt\" an area or a few blocks that have a high density of elderly. To explore collaboration with the community in that space. Then slowly replicate such models to other regions. Bring back the kampong spirit to ensure that the elderly are well taken care of.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
It sounds like a very tech rich project! Your progress is definitely fascinating as well. Are you guys planning to charge them ? Coz a lot of elderlies might not be able to afford such a high tech system at their homes. Also alot of our elderlies spend their time at elderly homes as well. So there is a chance that they might not consider it as a very important investment. So its important for you guys to bring this problem close to them and market it as a need ( which it is).
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
to approach HDBs that have many elderly start installing HomePal. I see this as a very important solution that is needed as Singapore progress.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Would there be a sound alarm system so that people knows something happened at a particular unit/site?
