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Sense4Safety Project Aims to Reduce Falls Among Older Adults

This innovative project uses depth sensors and tailored exercises to keep older adults safe at home. A clinical trial is planned to validate its effectiveness.

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In this image I can see on the right side a man is standing and looking at the waterfall. He wore...
In this image I can see on the right side a man is standing and looking at the waterfall. He wore t-shirt, trouser and a black color cap, in the middle there is a water fall. Few people are walking at here and there are trees. It looks like a fort, at the top it is the sky.

Sense4Safety Project Aims to Reduce Falls Among Older Adults

A groundbreaking project, Sense4Safety, aims to reduce falls among older adults, improving their quality of life and saving healthcare costs. Coordinated by Prof. Dr. Katrin Großmann at Fachhochschule Erfurt, this multicomponent intervention combines passive monitoring and active engagement. Funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI), the project involves renowned institutions like the University of Bielefeld, Technical University Dortmund, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

Falls pose a significant risk to older adults, often leading to injuries, decreased independence, and a lower quality of life. They also burden the healthcare system, being among the most expensive medical conditions to treat. To tackle this, the Sense4Safety project uses an in-home depth sensor for passive monitoring and engages participants with a coach. The intervention also includes a tailored exercise program, such as the Otago Exercise Program, to reduce fall risk.

Researchers, including those from Penn's School of Nursing, have demonstrated the feasibility of this approach. The intervention addresses privacy concerns by using algorithms that only capture the participant's gait characteristics. A clinical trial is planned, with participants randomly assigned to either a control group or the intervention group receiving Sense4Safety. The team hopes to make this intervention available to high-risk populations, such as older adults recently released from the hospital. Preliminary results show that most participants found the intervention useful, providing a sense of safety and increased home environment awareness.

The Sense4Safety project, involving leading German institutions and funded by the BMI, seeks to reduce falls among older adults. By combining passive monitoring, active engagement, and tailored exercises, the intervention aims to improve quality of life and decrease healthcare costs. A clinical trial is planned to validate its effectiveness, with potential rollout to high-risk populations.

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