Last month, I had the privilege of attending UK Care Week, a fantastic opportunity to meet and network with like-minded professionals, innovators, providers and thought leaders from across the sector, - all seeking to address the most pertinent issues in care.
I was honoured to be there alongside several of our strategic partners, Anthropos, Arquella and Ascom, providers that share our vision of leveraging data to transform elderly and dementia care. Through the power of touchless, 4D imaging sensor technology, I demonstrated how we’re making this vision a reality.
Vayyar Care supports a future of proactive, predictive, and person-centred care. Widely deployed in long-term care communities around the world, our solution gathers rich, real-time activity data, enabling caregivers to identify unreported minor falls, evaluate mobility, predict risk, and provide real-time interventions.
I’m excited to share with you a recap of my presentation, ‘The 4 Dimensions of Data-Driven Falls Management,’ in which I discussed how to leverage the data gathered by Vayyar Care, our touchless 4D imaging fall detection and activity monitoring solution.
Detection
Nearly half of older adults do not report minor falls. Many don’t want to worry their loved ones, feel a sense of shame, or deny it altogether, fearing greater loss of independence. Among cognitively impaired patients, failure to report falls can also be due to forgetting, or the inability to communicate. They may also be unable to operate alarm buttons and cords, or neglect to put on wearables.
These incidents are often described as “hidden falls” and the fallout can be disastrous. Minor falls double the risk of a more serious one due to physical complications such as muscle or nerve damage. Fear of falling, meanwhile, can result in depression and activity restriction. Vayyar Care provides the data that caregivers need to assess risk more accurately and detect all types of falls in real time.
Evaluation
Personalised, predictive care depends on monitoring residents' activity and flagging changes that warrant action. By measuring how long someone spends in their room, in bed, sitting down or in the bathroom, Vayyar Care enables caregivers to identify changes in levels of mobility that could heighten fall risk as well as reveal potential mental health issues.
For example, room presence data can reveal sundowning, which could indicate the early onset of dementia. Nocturnal roaming increases the likelihood of falls and serious injuries. Residents spending longer than usual alone can be a sign of depression, resulting in reduced mobility and muscle tone, compounding fall risk.
Prediction
If a resident visits the bathroom more frequently than usual, it could indicate a urinary tract infection, a digestive issue, or another medical problem. UTIs cause low blood pressure and dizziness, while many common medications increase bathroom usage and may require dosage adjustment. High nocturnal bathroom frequency inevitably leads to fatigue, making a fall much more likely. By tracking sleep patterns and bathroom visit times and frequency, caregivers can identify heightened near-term fall risk.
Intervention
A major priority for caregivers is “imminent bed exit alerts.” That’s because current solutions are insufficient. Floor mats alert caregivers only after a resident gets out of bed, often trigger false alerts, and need to be replaced frequently. Reliable, real-time alerts when an at-risk resident sits up in bed provide a window of opportunity for stepping in and literally catching a likely fall.
Interoperable with all nurse call systems and care platforms, Vayyar Care is suitable for use across a wide range of care settings. A virtual caregiver in every room, it offers a new level of visibility into care users’ behaviour and wellbeing, ensuring dignity, privacy, and independence alongside elevated person-centred care.
To learn more about Vayyar Care:
Email: stuart.barclay@vayyar.com
Website: https://vayyar.com/care/b2b