Our helpline team often get questions about monitoring systems to help carers and relatives keep an eye on someone with dementia. So are there any other systems you know about and are there any ethical issues with regards to monitoring someone, even though there are no cameras involved?
Thanks for the question this is really interesting topic to bring up as there are a number of benefits of introducing systems like these, both to the person and the carer/family member - but a number of things to consider also.
The first thing to note as mentioned, with all equipment and assistive technology and especially ones like this that report and monitoring on a person’s movements. There are ethical considerations and the needs of the person should always be considered. For example if the person has capacity it should be their decision if they wish to have/use the technology like this, and if the person does not have capacity then it is about best interests of the person. More information on ethical considerations can be found here within our Assistive technology factsheet:
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20030/staying_independent/30/assistive_technology/6
Further information specifically around a person’s capacity and decision making can be found here:
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20032/legal_and_financial/127/mental_capacity_act/4
Although I am unable to recommend or link to a certain monitoring system there have been a number of developments in this area over the last few years, and examples of commonly used ones are ‘Just Checking’ and ‘Canary Care’. These types of systems are often referred to as activity monitoring systems when looking in to them, they usually have an online management system where data collected can be viewed but this has also now developed to ‘app’ management on a smart phone or tablet. The idea is the systems can help people to stay independent in their own home for longer, whilst providing support to their carer or family member who are unable to visit as often as they like r who are out for set periods of the day (for example working).
The system is made up of often a base unit containing a sim card which simply plugs into a power source and pre-programmed sensors which link/talks to the unit, and the sensors are positioned around the house often with strong tape rather than screws etc. This unit transfers the data to a protected server which can be accessed by only authorised/approved people. The sensors which are commonly included in standard systems are wireless PIR movement sensors (passive infrared sensors) which pick up movements in a certain range of each sensor, magnetic door contacts (which can be used for front or internal doors, fridges, cupboard or wardrobes). These sensors help to build up a picture of a person’s movement in the property, but further to this based on the person’s needs and normal activities/movement the sensors created a logs every time a sensor detects a change (for example movement in the kitchen). This helps to build up a picture of the person’s movements during the day, but more importantly settings can be added to detect if something is away from the normal movement expected or if movement hasn’t happened (often referred to as activity or inactivity). An example of this it could be usually based on a person’s movement they would be expected to go into the living room by 10am in the morning but the movement has not been detected.
The system is easy to install, simple to use, and creates a clear summary of daily living activity that you can view securely online.
Although the systems above do not use cameras as specified in the question but related, I just thought I would include a link to a useful blog which was created by my colleague who specialises in Legal and Welfare Rights, covering the use of camera’s including CCTV:
https://blog.alzheimers.org.uk/deme...9.1072406471.1513937378-2082800884.1513937378