Elderly care is becoming a struggling industry with many care homes experiencing a shortage of skilled caregivers to provide long-term care for the elderly (Zeng et al., 2021). Artificial intelligence can play a key role in assisted living and health care monitoring, offering extra support to the low number of staff. It is important to make the distinction here, that this article aims to focus on AI as a support function, and AI solutions mentioned do not dive into care robots, but instead easier applications, for example, but not limited to sensors, smartwatches, and mobile phones.
Examples of AI in use in this area already exist, from personal homes to care homes. In the US, Kellye Franklin, an only child of age 39 is the primary caregiver of her father, diagnosed with dementia (Corbyn, 2021). In cases like this, it is a heavy strain to manage a job and daily life as well as caring for a parent. The pair live in the same house, and Franklin is supported by an AI system at home in her caregiving activities. With sensors and cameras set up around the house linked to her phone, she is able to detect ‘unusual behaviour’ from her father when she is at home or away. For example, if her father were to step outside and not return in a predetermined ‘short time’ she will receive an alert on her phone. Similarly, she can be notified if a camera and sensor pick up that her father has fallen and hasn’t moved.
In a care home, this works almost the same, compensating for the low number of staff and rising number of elderlies in the facilities. Additionally, the use of personal devices by the elderly paired with AI systems can provide more in-depth monitoring. Caretakers can be notified of rising heart rates or blood pressures, where traditionally action follows an incident, AI and these devices offer more preventative measures.
References
Corbyn, Z. (2021, June 3). The future of elder care is here – and it’s artificial intelligence. The Guardian. Retrieved October 15, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/03/elder-care-artificial-intelligence-software
Qian, K., Zhang, Z., Yamamoto, Y., & Schuller, B. W. (2021). Artificial Intelligence Internet of things for the elderly: From assisted living to health-care monitoring. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 38(4), 78–88. https://doi.org/10.1109/msp.2021.3057298
Zeng, D., Wu, J., Yang, B., Obara, T., Okawa, A., Iino, N., Hattori, G., Kawada, R., & Takishima, Y. (2021). SHECS: A local smart hands-free elderly care support system on SMART AR glasses with AI technology. 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Multimedia (ISM). https://doi.org/10.1109/ism52913.2021.00019
