Fig. 1.

Resident monitoring technology at US and Netherlands (NL) sites. At the US site (left), the main fall prevention instrument used is the pressure sensor mat, which is positioned on the chair or bed of high fall risk residents. The sensor is activated when a resident tries to get up. The alarm is a loud sound that is heard by the nurses (and residents). At the NL site (right), each resident room is equipped with a communication module mounted on the wall; this module is part of a monitoring and communication system and has a wired connection to an electronic digital care system. The communication module is equipped with listen-speech functionality and, depending on needs and desires, additional systems can be connected wirelessly to this communication module. An example is a mobile infrared sensor (wakend oog or “watching eye”) used to detect when residents try to get out of bed. Other types of systems that can be connected wirelessly are a wearable emergency alert pendant and a sound sensor that can be used at night to send alarms when it detects unusual sound levels. The monitoring system is installed in a way that suits the monitoring needs of a particular resident. The wakend oog, for instance, can be placed at virtually any desirable place in the room, and the device settings can be varied for different conditions, making the system highly personalized. Once the monitoring system generates an alarm (silent), the event is communicated via the electronic digital care system to a designated DECT telephone (a European-standard digital cordless phone system). A nurse carries the phone and receives alarm text messages that display the room number of the associated alarm. From here three different reactions follow: 1. The nurse presses a button on the phone and goes to the indicated room to give assistance. 2. The nurse calls the room (via a speech-listen connection) to talk to the resident (e.g., explaining that assistance is on its way). 3. The nurse does not react to the alarm. In the third case, the electronic care system detects a non-response and after 3 min reroutes the alarm to a second unit of staff; if a second non-response is detected, additional units of staff area alerted.