Aalst welcomes very first smart lamps in ALF ‘Gerstjens’
Future-oriented lamp prepares assisted living facilities for the Silver Tsunami
A very symbolic lamp was lit in ALF ‘Gerstjens’ this morning. The first Nobi smart lamps will support care staff in the coming years by monitoring the well-being of the residents 24/7. On the one hand, the lamps will contribute to even more focused care; on the other hand, they will also relieve the 40 care workers from repetitive tasks and give them more room to focus on tasks that really make a difference in the lives and happiness of the residents. The purchase of Nobi lamps is a very conscious choice by ALF ‘Gerstjens’, which wants to continue to guarantee quality care for the elderly at all times despite the Silver Tsunami that is increasing the pressure on caregivers day by day. “The sector currently has more than 6,000 vacancies that remain unfilled. Technology will play an increasingly important role in the coming years,” says Mathieu De Wulf, director of ALF ‘Gerstjens’.
24/7 guardian angel; immediate assistance after a fall
Nobi is a smart lamp that aims to provide a basic solution to one of the leading causes of death in older adults: falls. One in three people over 65 fall at least once a year. Even in assisted living facilities, 70% of residents fall at least once a year. 66% of all the older adults who fall are seriously injured. With the help of artificial intelligence, the Nobi lamp detects when a resident falls and ensures immediate assistance by care staff. That speed is crucial: 50% of the elderly who lay on the floor for longer than one hour die within six months of the fall. The quicker people are helped, the more qualitative years of life can be saved.
Guide in residents’ lives
Nobi not only detects falls, it also prevents them. When older adults sit up in bed at night, Nobi switches on soft lighting. This helps prevent disorientation when waking up and a fall when getting out of bed. Nobi is also a guide in residents’ lives. During the day, the lamp reminds residents of their daily activities and visits. Soon, Nobi will also measure loneliness and encourage family members to come and visit. This can have a major impact on health and happiness. Its artificial intelligence will eventually enable Nobi to detect changes in behaviour, such as when someone suddenly has difficulty walking, displays cognitive decline or becomes depressed. Nobi also helps to monitor the general safety with built-in temperature and air quality measuring instruments.
From busy caregivers to warm contacts
With Nobi, ALF ‘Gerstjens’ wants to relieve busy care workers as much as possible by taking over repetitive tasks. This frees up valuable time for tasks that really make a difference in the lives and happiness of older adults. Take, for example, Nobi’s integration with devices like smart scales or blood pressure monitors that provide additional insight into residents’ health and allow for the automatic input of the otherwise time-consuming manual input of measurement results. Nobi helps staff members so that they are no longer ‘behind the times’, gives them more control over the safety and well-being of residents and will eventually help predict where things might go wrong with the health of residents, so that preventative action can be taken.
‘Technology as an important partner of my employees’
Mathieu De Wulf, director of ALF ‘Gerstjens’: “For me, Nobi’s lamp symbolises looking to the future, of looking at what is possible, of believing that, despite a difficult context, we can do more and more for the happiness of our residents. I have been in contact with assisted living facilities since I was 12, from my father's assisted living facility. I consciously chose to continue my father’s ambition todevelop assisted living facilities where people can grow old with dignity, safety and true happiness.”
But this has not been easy in recent years. The number of older adults continues to rise, and our sector is losing committed employees every day. This puts even more pressure on the remaining employees. “I could mope about that, but I decided not to. At ALF ‘Gerstjens’, we look ahead and focus our energy on solutions. I see technology as an important partner of my employees that enables them to provide even more focused care to our residents. I look forward to the future with confidence. The dark clouds of an ageing population may be hanging right over our heads, but I will not let its shadow fall over my assisted living facility under any circumstances.”
Pilot project results are encouraging
Nobi is a self-learning lamp. In practice, this means that the lamp needs a few weeks to function optimally. The results of the pilot project during the first weeks were positive. Since the beginning of the pilot project, Nobi detected more than 40 falls in the 15 rooms in which it was tested. The residents were helped within 5 minutes on average. For some residents, this meant the difference between life and death. For others, this speed saved several qualitative years of life[LDD1] . After all, the speed with which help is provided is crucial. The longer older adults lay on the floor, the more qualitative years they lose. The pilot project in ALF ‘Gerstjens’ was an important test for CARE-ION, the care group to which ‘Gerstjens’ belongs. Johan Maris, COO at CARE-ION: “The future of elderly care begins today. We focus on increasingly targeted, individual care at CARE-ION and strive to create a real ‘home’ for our residents. Technology and innovation are important accelerators that can make a big difference to residents and employees. Nobi’s results prove this. The roll-out of Nobi’s smart lamps will be evaluated in the coming months at our sites where innovation within elderly care is central.”
Responding to the many unreported falls
The official switching on of Nobi lamps is an important moment for ALF ‘Gerstjens’ and for Nobi. Roeland Pelgrims, co-CEO of Nobi: “After two years of development, we can finally put theory into practice with Nobi. Thanks to CARE-ION, we can not only help older adults even faster after a fall and thus save as many quality years of life as possible. We also help caregivers detect incidents that would have remained under the radar until today. For example, we know that many older adults who were able to get up independently after a fall do not always report their fall to their caregivers. Either out of shame or because they do not realise that smaller - seemingly innocent - incidents can sometimes have major consequences. The number of falls detected by Nobi during our initial pilot project confirms this. With Nobi, Mathieu and his team can now provide help more quickly after a fall. They also have a good overview of all falls, including the smaller incidents that would otherwise only have come to light months later when it’s often too late.”
*** End of press release ***
PRESS IMAGES
About ALF ‘Gerstjens’
At the assisted living facility ‘Gerstjens’ in Aalst, 40 care workers guarantee a safe and happy home to some 99 residents. Although professional and qualitative care comes first, director Mathieu De Wulf sees it as his personal mission to show that assisted living facilities can also be cosy, homely, warm and dignified. Therefore, living in ‘Gerstjens’ means spacious, comfortable rooms, a cosy interior, plenty of daylight and - very important - tasty, freshly prepared meals served in The Grand Café. Not a canteen, but a bistro where residents can enjoy a delicious and pleasant meal without feeling like they are in an assisted living facility. ALF ‘Gerstjens’ is part of the Belgian innovative care group Seniors Care-Ion.
https://www.careion.be/wzc-de-gerstjens
About CARE-ION
CARE-ION is a Belgian care group with a family character. In its 20 houses (assisted living facilities, service flats or convalescent homes), residents are central so that they can enjoy life without a care. CARE-ION’s employees create a home environment, are a listening ear and strive for a balance between ‘customised care’ and ‘quality housing’. The care group aims to create a real home environment and a warm atmosphere through its architecture, technology, and furnishings.
About Nobi
The Belgian Age Tech company Nobi was founded in 2018 and believes that everyone deserves to grow old in a dignified, safe and happy manner. The star of Nobi is its AI-powered smart lamp, which watches over the safety of older adults. At its core: fall detection and fall prevention. Nobi’s smart lamps support older adults at home, and they partner with care staff in assisted living facilities, health care centres and service flats. They contribute to even more targeted care for the elderly and relieve busy care workers from repetitive tasks. This way, their limited time can be spent on those tasks that really make a difference to the lives and happiness of older adults. Nobi currently has about 30 employees and operates in Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, the UK and Canada. Nobi has an international advisory board with specialists in elderly care, medicine and smart home technology. Nobi was proclaimed ‘Most Promising Healthcare Innovation 2022’ by Flemish and Dutch healthcare professionals in February. Its product and design have also won several awards. Nobi won the Henry van de Velde 2021 award twice in the categories Business Innovation and Consumer, and it won a German Design Award. www.nobi.life