Monitoring Behaviour in a Domestic Environment: Addressing the Needs of an Aging Population

Abstract

An increasingly aging population will challenge the current organization of society and will require new technological solutions for assisting as well as maintaining the health of this demographic. In this thesis, some solutions for remote monitoring of a domestic environment are researched, implemented in the home of an elderly citizen, and evaluated. Background theory related to wireless remote sensing, data interpretation and presentation is studied and presented. Some design concepts for handling a multitude of varied sensor information together with ways to harvest information in a health context are discussed and implemented. A system comprised of several types of both stationary and body-worn sensors together with a framework for collecting, interpreting and presenting the gathered data in a useful manner is developed, and a pilot-study is conducted. The results show that it is possible to get useful information via remote monitoring, and that it is possible to implement a low cost monitoring system using o-the-shelf components. Several areas of applicaton for remote monitoring are proven or made plausible. It is shown that such a system can have signicance in assisting health personnel, both as it is presented here as well as with suggested further work.