An assistant not only for senior citizens

Publikováno: 16. 3. 2024
Autor: Redakce
Foto: Trenčínský samosprávný kraj

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All year long, seniors and physically disabled people with permanent residence in the Trenčín region have been getting help from IDA – an intelligent home assistant. The number of people interested in this new form of social service, which uses modern technologies, reached 600 before the end of the year.

The intelligent home assistant system works based on sensors and SOS buttons. The household SOS buttons alone were pressed 4 801 times during its first year of service. Outside of the house, clients carry a small GPS tracker with an SOS button, used 2 157 times in that same year. IDA is also capable of alerting the clients’ overseers that their loved one is at home and not moving, and might be in need of help. In that case, IDA sends out a so-called critical alarm, and those were used up to 7000 times in the past year. 

The system keeps learning 
The great thing about the sensor- based system is, it knows how to fully adapt to each client, and, in time, will learn their daily and nightly routines. Be it a higher level of nighttime activity, or a lower level during the day, IDA alerted as such over 3 400 times in one year. “Such a change in a client’s behavior usually happens when their health condition changes. IDA is capable of alerting their loved ones about a possible health issue,” explains Elena Nekorancová, head of the regional office’s social help department. One interesting fact the 2023 alarm statistics uncovered, is that seniors or physically disabled people often forget to close their front door. 

The rising age of the population is the reason 
One of the reasons the region started this unique project is the increasing age of the population. According to demographic data, the Trenčín region is the fastest aging region in Slovakia, which is why there was a need for a functional and sustainable system of providing social services. IDA emerged thanks to the AAL Support project in the Trenčín region, as a part of the ‚Monitoring and signaling the need for help’ social service. Out of all the self-governing regions, Trenčín was the only one to implement this project with the help of the European fund for regional development as utilized in the ‚Integrated Infrastructure 2014 - 2020’ operational programme. “The region has been developing the IDA system for those who mostly spend their time alone, and are either older, or seriously ill, and don’t feel like leaving home to live in an assisted living facility just yet. The goal of the entire project is for the client to be able to stay in the comfort of their own home for as long as possible,” said the governor of the Trenčín region Jaroslav Baška.
Interested parties can still apply for the IDA system, all they have to do is turn to the proper authorities in their area. Their list is available at www.ida-tsk.sk