Activity Monitoring System to Support Elderly Independent Living

The desire to live independently may conflict with safety and practical needs as old age progresses toward a state of frail elderly. With old age the risk of debilitating events rises. Having someone notice such a debilitating state and call for help becomes increasingly important. Thus, many elderly people move out of their independent residence and into a group setting, such as a nursing home, but with associated risk of depression, decline in self-confidence or self-determination. An activity monitoring system with sensors both on-body and in-home, which would detect possible debilitating events and send alerts for help, could allow some elderly people to maintain independent living. This project developed prototype modules to track room location, heart rate, and fall detection through sensors connected to a hub microcontroller system. A prototype system was developed and tested. The system shows promise but needs further development and testing before deployment.