Personal Emergency Systems

Personal Emergency Systems are a particular sort of technology that use electronic sensors connected to an alarm system to help caregivers manage risk and help vulnerable people stay independent at home longer.

An example would be the systems being put in place for senior people such as fall detectors, thermometers (for hypothermia risk), flooding and unlit gas sensors (for people with mild dementia). Notably, these alerts can be customized to the particular person's risks. When the alert is triggered, a message is sent to a carer or contact centre who can respond appropriately.

Technology similar to the Personal Emergency Systems can also be used to act within a person's home rather than just to respond to a detected crisis.

Using one of the examples above, gas sensors for people with dementia can be used to trigger a device that turns off the gas and tells someone what has happened.

Designing for people with dementia is a good example of how the design of the interface of a piece is critical to its usefulness. People with dementia or any other identified user group must be involved in the design process to make sure that the design is accessible and usable.

In the example above, a voice message could be used to remind the person with dementia to turn off the gas himself, but whose voice should be used, and what should the message say? Questions like these must be answered through user consultation, involvement and evaluation.

Please contact us if you have any questions!