House that cares for you

Hi-tech that’ll let dementia sufferers live independently

THIS is the hi-tech house with the goal of revolutionising dementia care.

Packed with sensors that can pick up on everything from changes in eating habits to looming infections, such a home aims to allow dementia sufferers to live independently.

The Government-backed project could keep thousands of elderly people out of care homes or hospital wards.

Early trials show scanners, miniature radar monitors and door sensors can be used to track movement, pick up early signs of infection and alert relatives if someone has fallen.

Within a decade, a cheap ‘dementia kit’ could be prescribed by a GP and installed by an engineer to transform any home, scientists say.

They believe such technology could transform the ‘ broken’ dementia care system in which many families are abandoned to cope without help from the NHS.

The project – a partnership between Imperial College and Surrey University – is the focus of a £20million dementia research centre at Imperial’s new campus in west London. Scientists believe the technology – much of which is already available – could cut thousands of hospital admissions by monitoring patterns of behaviour and picking up problems early.

Crucially it is very cheap – with sensors costing as little as £10 with apps and software that control the system available for free. The most expensive part would be a smartphone to view the data. Professor David Sharp, head of the new centre, said doctors could begin offering such technology within ten years.

‘You might have your dementia engineer come over and deploy the technology into your home,’ he said. ‘So this may sound like science fiction, but I think many of the elements of this are in place.’

Technology being developed includes sensors to track a patient’s heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature, as well as brain activity, sleep and even someone’s gait.