How AI is being adopted across the care homes sector

The challenges associated with an ageing society have been well documented. By 2040, 24% of the UK’s population will be over 65 years old, and this means people are living with ailments for longer, emphasising the growing need for services that care for the demands of an ageing population. The elderly care sector, which incorporates care homes, assisted living, specialist care homes, and in-home care, has been exploring ways to improve standard of care for residents without increasing the financial burden. Energy inflation and wage rises have pushed up costs significantly, and operators have been exploring ways to mitigate rises without passing on cost increases to residents’ fees or compromising on standards.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being adopted across major industries, so it is understandable that healthcare providers have been keen to adopt AI. Care home providers are already leveraging AI and using the pre-emptive technology to reduce falls, monitor vulnerable residents, detect discomfort and pain in non-verbal residents. These advancements not only reduce hospital admissions but also improve outcomes for residents.

Wearable technology

Care home operators have already embraced technology as a means to improve residents’ care through digital innovations. Technologies such as robotics, interactive programmes, and digital care records have been around for decades, bringing a multitude of benefits to care, residents, and their families. One of the most recent innovations include wearable devices which have been trialled in care homes across the UK to enhance independence and autonomy, while staying connected. Lightweight devices are designed to distinguish from residents participating in day-to-day activities and residents who have been hurt from falls.

Devices such as smart watches have been used as a discrete way to monitor health, promote independence, and above all, ensure care home residents are safe. Ways in which smart watches ensure that residents’ health is monitored in a non-invasive way include recording step counts, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure. The data collected via wearable technology is invaluable in ensuring care home staff are proactive in responding to changes in a resident’s health and care needs.

Wearable technology can also set medication reminders and records when and which medication has been taken, reducing the possibility of missing doses or overmedicating, increasing positive health outcomes for residents. AI is now going further than digital innovations by using predictive technologies, monitoring technologies and facial recognition sensors, with further benefits still being developed.

Monitoring technology

The predictive nature of AI means it is being used to monitor patient movements and predict unusual patterns and habits, attempting to pre-empt behaviours that may lead to injury. Tools such as motion detectors and sound recordings are placed around care homes that alert care home staff if a resident falls without sounding a beeping alarm which can be disturbing and stressful to residents.

Facial recognition technology is also being used to distinguish residents from carers, so if residents are displaying unusual patterns and behaviours, then carers can address this or alert medical staff if necessary. Notable changes in a resident’s behaviour are recorded, medical staff have an up-to-date record of unusual patterns and behaviours which they can address through assessments and medications reviews, avoiding potential hospital admissions. Eating and drinking habits can also be monitored by AI, which shows changes which may be harmful to care home residents. For example, if eating motions are not detected at timely intervals, carers would be able to address this.

Family members worried about the standard of care of relatives in care homes have also been using facial recognition to see their family member in real time, giving reassurance if relatives cannot visit in person.

Care home operators are trialling facial recognition sensors such as the PainCheck App to recognise pain reactions in non-verbal residents, or those with cognitive impediments, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. The sensors can detect facial pain indicators such as grimaces and winces, with levels of pain recorded in an app, and patterns and behaviours recorded over time. Regular recording of facial indicators allows medical staff to recognise pain that has previously gone undetected and implement effective pain management. Close monitoring enables medical staff to prescribe medication and review at regular intervals to ensure effectiveness of pain controls, or indeed, avoid over-medicating residents. The Alzheimer’s Society estimates the number of people in the UK with Alzheimer’s will rise to 1.4 million, and if AI enables sufferers to vocalise pain, this has the potential to alleviate the suffering for millions of people.

Seniors sceptical

The adoption of AI has undoubtedly brought many benefits to the care homes sector, yet concerns have been raised regarding levels of accuracy of AI data collection, the efficiency of AI, and residents’ privacy and consent. Ethical considerations have been raised as elderly care home residents may not have the cognitive ability to consent to their data being collected. This is especially concerning to Baby Boomers who are the least familiar and least trusting of technology; the constant monitoring by an unfamiliar product may cause them to alter their behaviour to avoid the monitors.

Higher standards of care

While the benefits of AI in care homes are evolving, and greater advances will unlock an array of benefits to seniors, AI cannot replace human interaction, which is of the upmost importance to the elderly as loneliness is a negative influence on cognitive decline. If AI is able to alleviate carers’ workload and, in turn, reduce staff turnover, care home residents will benefit from care conducive to their specific needs. Providing safe, quality, and compassionate care is the intention of every care home operator, and if AI complements residents’ care needs, this will result in higher standards of care for the UK’s most vulnerable people.