Be-Well

Host Organisation:	EMBRACE TECH LTD
Project Budget:	35.520,00 €
IDEK Funding:	24.864,00 €

The need for improved healthcare services for the elderly has increased significantly in the recent years, which consequently created the need for information and communications technologies (ICTs) to improve the quality of life of the aging population. Most wearable technologies mainly focus on the physical wellness of the elderly through tracking activities of daily living, yet, there is still a need for more emphasis on emotional and psychological wellness of the elderly through behavior analysis in order to improve their quality of life in a more comprehensive way. For that reason, BE-WELL project aims to deliver an intelligent suite of algorithms, focusing on monitoring the emotional and physical wellness of the elderly through behavior analysis.

For decades, digital tools and wearables have been used in elderly care where the focus was mostly on physiological data was monitored. Our first step is the detection of the emotional journey of the elder with the development of a proof of concept (TRL3) system, that can reach into the hands of caregivers who never had access to that information before.

The system will gather information from existing wearable sensors and through sophisticated machine learning algorithms will predict elderly behavior and emotions. BE-WELL will deliver actionable insights and real-time alerts to the family, home care provider, care facility/assisted living staff, or medical agent for early intervention and necessary measures.

Global elder care services market has shown positive trends over the past few years and it is anticipated to record a compound annual growth rate of 8.4% and reach a market value of US$ 1,767.3 billions by the end of 2025, up from an estimated US$ 927.1 billions in 2017. The primary reasons behind the growth of the market are increased aging population worldwide and the increasing demand for quality life by senior citizens.