Research
It’s estimated that 30 million people around the world are living with dementia, with more than 60 percent living in developing countries. Research is being carried out on two fronts, medical research, and research into better care and assistance for those with dementia. Professor Robert Orpwood, and a team at the University of Bath, began developing their smart house technology for dementia sufferers back in 2000.

They began development work, says Orpwood, to see if technology could give sufferers some kind of independence. His team have a background in applying design engineering to different areas of disability. ‘The work ranges from simple aids for supporting people in their own homes, to mobility equipment, to looking at robotic devices,’ explains Orpwood.

Trial
‘One of the things that marks our work,’ says Orpwood, ‘is that we have a very user-lead approach. We have done lots of work with people with dementia, directly trying out ideas and seeing how they respond.’ They began a trial with a man in London who was deluded, had a continence problem, wandered around at night and only got three hours sleep. ‘We installed equipment,’ says Orpwood, ‘that would encourage him to go to the toilet if he got up at night. It would turn the light on to give him some guidance to find the toilet. We use voice prompts a lot, we did a recording of his daughter’s voice to support him. If he was showing signs of restlessness at night, we’d encourage him back to bed.’  

House responds
The man was there for a year, and when he died, he had no incontinence problems, his wandering was cut down by 50 percent and his sleep increased to six hours a night. ‘At the moment,’ says Orpwood, ‘the information enables the house itself to respond.  The house turns the lights on, the house does the voice prompt, it will turn taps off  if they are left on, or turn the cooker off  if it has been left on. It can’t provide the emotional support a carer can but in terms of mechanistic support it can do that automatically.’ The systems are designed so that they can be monitored by healthcare professionals, and if manufacturers get behind it Orpwood believes the smart systems could be in people’s homes in the next five years.