Senior care - sistema de acompanhamento remoto para idosos

Abstract

In 2021, the portion of the Brazilian population aged 60 and over reached 14.7% of the total, which represents approximately 31.2 million inhabitants (INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICA – IBGE, 2022). The concern for the safety, independence, and well-being of the elderly has become increasingly present in the daily lives of Brazilian families. In this context, the development of monitoring tools that ally ubiquitous electronic devices such as smartphones, the Internet of Things, with low-cost embedded systems is of utmost importance. This work aims at the development of a remote monitoring system for the elderly. The system should act by sending alerts to a group of contacts in emergency situations, in addition to helping users manage their daily medication routine, offering features such as alarms and a set of medicine dispensers that help to prevent the user from consuming a medication at an incorrect time, or forgetting to take the medication. To achieve this, a wristband has been developed that assists, through a panic button, calling for help in emergency situations, and through integration with biomedical sensors, such as an oximeter, heart rate sensor and sphygmomanometer, perform autonomous requests for help. In addition, a device was developed that is responsible for displaying the identifier of the dispenser that contains the medicine to be taken and monitoring the opening of the dispensers, generating alerts in case an attempt is made to take the wrong medicine or if the user forgets to take it. A website and a mobile application were developed and through these platforms, users and their guardians can create their accounts, add devices, manage settings, emergency contacts and medication alarms. These systems also make it possible to monitor events and readings from biomedical sensors. The resulting prototype operated as expected in sending emergency event alerts and executing functionalities related to assisting users in managing their medication routine.