Mesa assisted living community uses artificial intelligence to prevent falls

MESA, Arizona (AZFamily) — Aging brings challenges and the risk of falling is very real.

“A fall changes a person’s life forever,” said Tawnya Williams-Christensen, director of assisted living at Mesa Exchange Square.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control14 million Americans aged 65 and older report a decline each year. Seniors who suffer a fall may face high medical costs, rehabilitation care and possibly even loss of independence.

“We spent a lot of time looking for a fall detection system, and all of a sudden this hit us. Why am I trying to find people who have fallen? Is there any way to prevent falls? said Jon Scott Williams, executive director of Fellowship Square Mesa.

He says he found his answer in a little device called Paul. It is a radar-based device that uses artificial intelligence to analyze movements.

“They calculate these fall risk factors; how we sleep, how we move, how fast I walk, gait stability, and everything is combined, and if a resident is at high risk of falling, this will be shown to the caregiver,” said Sandro Cilurzo, founder and CEO of Helpwho created Paul.

Caregivers can access a dashboard that alerts them to changes in a resident’s movements.

Maybe someone is getting up more than usual. Maybe they didn’t use their call button to get help getting to and from the bathroom. Now, with information and alerts from the device, the caregiver can arrive on scene before a fall occurs. “It’s about preserving privacy. No camera, no microphone, just motion-based,” Cilurzo said.

For residents, privacy is a big issue. Still, the idea of AI in their personal space was not welcome for some.

“All this new technology is scary at first,” Williams-Christensen said. “But once we fully understand them and can articulate and educate staff and residents about how beautiful this is for their lives and how they can live longer and stronger, people tend to buy in pretty quickly.”

Fellowship Square Mesa believes membership is paying off. The facility averaged about 20 falls per month among residents.

After she started using Paul in July, that number dropped to 12. In August, there were six falls among residents, and in September and October, there were only four falls per month, according to Williams- Christensen.

“When there is no fall, there are fewer resources on the part of the firefighters, fewer resources on the part of the hospitals, fewer resources on the part of the families who have to take off and take care of their close,” she said.

In the United States, Paul is only available in assisted living and senior living communities, but Cilurzo says the technology has been used successfully in private residences in Switzerland and there is potential for expansion .

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