Keeping elderly residents and other vulnerable groups safe, whether in care homes or at community centers, is extremely important. This has always been a challenge and additional burden for staff at these facilities. Traditional elderly monitoring devices and elderly safety alarms, such as wearable bracelets and exit alarms, provide some level of safety but are by no means fail-safe or the best solutions to choose nowadays.
Anti-wandering bracelets worn either on the wrist or ankle of a vulnerable person do allow freedom of movement and will trigger an alarm if the subject moves towards a particular doorway or area. However, being wearable, they can be uncomfortable and potentially embarrassing for wearers. Bracelets also incur reoccurring costs as their function will deteriorate over time.
Exit alarms are another simple way to alert caregivers if a door or window has been opened. They can be in the form of door mats or actual alarm mechanisms placed on exits. But, as with bracelets, they are not fail-safe and require regular maintenance to ensure they are functioning correctly.
To keep all the positives of traditional elderly safety devices but remove the downsides, GF Technovation (powered by Guardforce) has developed a cost-effective smart anti-wandering solution that provides a high level of safety and security, while also allowing freedom of movement and dignity for vulnerable people.
Read More: How Technology Can Be Used To Keep Our Elderly Safe
Advances in CCTV, facial recognition and IoT have allowed a new breed of anti-wandering system to emerge. GF Technovation is the first in Hong Kong to install this type of sophisticated anti-wandering solution in care homes. It replaces traditional elderly monitoring devices by leveraging facial recognition technology instead of physical safety devices.
Our facial recognition system is simply integrated into a facility’s own CCTV network to identify and locate residents, as well as monitor exits and prevent residents and visitors from wandering off unaccompanied.
If the system detects a resident near a CCTV-monitored exit, an alert is sent to the central monitoring station to inform caregivers. This non-intrusive surveillance system can monitor all exits with no blind spots, ensuring that all vulnerable people are kept safe without the need for any wearable bracelets or devices fitted to doors and windows. Adding and removing subjects and defining off-limits areas is both quick and easy.
The solution is ideal for any type of care facility, whether it is a care home or a community centre and is well-suited for those facilities caring for the physical or mentally disabled.
The system also has the value-added benefit of being easily adapted to track the attendance of staff and service users. The data, including entry and exit times, can be extracted to compile attendance records and to aid management.
The award-winning anti-wandering solution delivers multiple benefits, including:
The solution has won a range of awards, including the finalist of the 7th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards 2019, a Certificate of Merit of the 2017 Hong Kong Awards for Industries – Innovation and Creativity and winner of the Business for Social Good Outstanding Awards - Excellence, organised by Our Hong Kong Foundation.
It is included in the list of services eligible for the HK$1 billion government funding for the Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care. Nearly 80 elderly homes and daycare centers have implemented the solution.
The smart anti-wandering solution really does leave traditional elderly safety devices behind. If you are interested in upgrading to this cost-saving and effective tool, contact us today to learn more.
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