SingTRACeX: Navigation System to Address Wandering Behavior for Elders and Their Caregivers

Abstract

The issue of an ever-increasing ageing population has been the increasing burden on caregivers to care for the elderly population. Caring for elders, especially those diagnosed with dementia, can be challenging. People living with dementia (PWD) require extra care and attention from the caregivers due to the associated behaviours that come with dementia. Wandering is a frequent behaviour exhibited by PWD, which can bring about negative outcomes on the PWD as well as increasing the stress of the caregivers. Though many technological solutions exist, they are not widely deployed. This paper introduces a technological framework, bridging the localisation technologies to the needs of elders and caregivers. The aim is to minimise or eliminate the negative outcomes of dementia wandering and to reduce the burden and stress on the caregivers, thus improving overall well-being. In this paper, we study the application, SingTRACeX, features by considering user needs from the field study with 2 focus group discussions (FGD), comprising of 14 professional caregivers and coordinators. The proposed system features Real-time Location Tracking and Indoor Localisation. The location is determined by GPS location from the Sensor module when outdoors, and estimation using data from the WiFi module, and Bluetooth module when indoors. The indoor navigation provided by the Indoor Localisation module uses an A-star search algorithm. This paper could serve as a foundation that can be built upon over time as the needs of elders and caregivers may change over time, as well as the evolution of technology that may bring about new methods to address needs.