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Living with, or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s can be extremely difficult, especially when it comes to balancing the need for independent living with the safety of the sufferer and the peace of mind of the relatives.

The objective of SIMAP is to offer Alzheimer’s sufferers the confidence to live as independently as possible, safe in the knowledge that discreet, automated technologies are helping to keep them safe inside and outside their homes.

Benefits

Patients’ quality of life is significantly improved because SIMAP helps t*o make users feel safer and more secure while they are away from their homes. This localisation service provides assurance to the Alzheimer user that they have additional protection, that the Red Cross can proactively contact their caregiver, and that the right care can be provided in case of an emergency. Caregivers can also check where the patient is at any time of the day or night via a special website.

Workflow description

The Alzheimer user has a mobile terminal with a built-in GPRS modem and GPS receiver which is linked to the SIMAP platform. The terminal automatically submits its position and status to the platform every three minutes, with the possibility of customising this time interval if required. The alerting system gets activated if a caregiver or family member needs to locate the user or if the terminal sends an automatic warning.

Tracing a user’s location is simple and fast, using one of a number of communication channels including:

• a 24/7 telephone service desk hosted by the Red Cross
• a website which each patient’s carers and relatives can log in to
• a text messaging service

Alerts can be sent by the user directly but can also be sent automatically in pre-defined circumstances, such as these:

• the user leaves a pre-defined geographic area
• when the battery of the device is low and needs to be re-charged
• when there is an error with the data transmission
• general status at pre-defined time intervals set up by the carer.

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