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Android Based Multi-Feature Elderly Assisted Living Application
Andrew Sweeney
2 nd Yr, Software Design & Development, NUI Galway
a.sweeney6@nuigalway.ie
Abstract
The design and methods of a Telecare application
intended for use on a common smartphone is discussed.
The proposed application will incorporate many
different Telecare assistive technologies and combine
them into one software solution that is accessible using
an Android smartphone. Some of the proposed features
are fall detection, physical activity monitoring, GPS
tracking and movement detection. If the application
perceives that a user needs help, it will check with them
if they need aid before contacting care. Also carers will
be able to view the physical activity and locate an
application user remotely for indirect monitoring.
1. Introduction
Telecare is the term given to the continuous,
automatic and remote monitoring of real-time
emergencies and lifestyle changes over time in order to
manage the risks associated with independent living [1].
It is an umbrella term for remote care to a wide array
of potential problems such as falls, strokes, heart attacks
where a user may be incapacitated, to tracking dementia
suffering wanderers, to monitoring carbon dioxide
levels and medicine intake.
It becomes increasingly difficult for an elderly
person to lead an individual life out of care as they age.
Falls account for approximately 80% of all injuries to
the aged, they are also the cause of 90% of all fractures.
Falls are the fifth most common cause of death with
elderly people [2]. Even if this is not the case,
confidence in one’s self and quality of living is
diminished after suffering a fall.
Another concern is caring for sufferers of Dementia.
This is a highly common condition affecting elderly
health in recent years. Applying Telecare to aid this
condition would allow an individual to have a much
better chance to lead their own life outside of care and
potentially save a large amount of money that goes into
the care of sufferers.
The physical activity of a person is another important
aspect to consider in an elderly persons health. Active
elderly people reduce their chances of strokes, obesity,
high blood pressure, diabetes and disability even with
just a moderate amount of physical activity [3].
2. Application Features
Many Telecare devices are currently available to
buy. These devices usually perform one, maybe two
functions and are built specifically for these purposes.
The aim of this project is to try to implement many
different features in one affordable, readily available,
non-intrusive device.
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The ‘fall detection’ feature uses the vector magnitude
of the accelerometer to detect if the phone is falling. If a
threshold is passed (falling), the orientation of the phone
is stored. This threshold needs to be passed 10 times in
succession (~0.5 sec). When the phone comes to a stop
(landing), the orientation is compared to before the fall.
If they differ by a certain amount, a fall is detected and
an alarm plays to check is user ok. If there is no
response, emergency contacts are contacted.
If a carer texts the word ‘enable’ to the patients
phone, this will activate ‘GPS Tracking’ which writes
the users location to a database and this is viewable on a
webpage. Similarly, texting ‘disable’ will stop the GPS
tracking to save battery life.
‘Physical Activity Monitoring’ is another feature
whereby the accelerometer measures how much the user
is moving by counting the amount of time that it is
below a threshold – user is sedentary, and the time
above the threshold - user is actively moving about.
These values are stored every hour and will be viewable
by the carers to remotely monitor a patients activity
levels.
For ‘Movement Detection’ another fine threshold is
set for the accelerometer which, if the phone does not
move at all, will not be passed. If this does not happen
for an extended period of time, an alarm sounds to
check is the user ok again as they may be incapacitated.
3. Results
At the moment, development is still in the
implementation stages. Once this phase is completed,
further refining of algorithms to improve accuracy will
be undertaken. All features will then be tested and
results reviewed to see how reliable they are and how
effective it would be to use a smartphone as a
prospective multi-feature Telecare device.
4. Acknowledgements
Des Chambers – Project Supervisor
Joe O’Connell – IT Administrator
5. References
[1] www.telecareaware.com/index.php/what-is-telecare.html
[2] Koski K., Luukinen H., et. Al, “Physiological factors and
medications as predictors of injurious falls by elderly people:
A prospective population based study” Age Ageing, Vol. 25,
PubMed, University of Oulu, Finland, 25/01/96, pp. 29-38.
[3] www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4557