Finding Long Term Tendendies in Daily Activities of Poeple with Dementia using RFID Slippers: An exploratory study

The development of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology makes it possible to track residents when installed to a house. We studied what valuable information can be extracted from location data of residents when we have carried out the data collection for years. We installed antennas into a group home, where six people with dementia lived, and asked the residents to wear slippers into which RFID tags were inserted. The data has been collected for thirty months. We found a seasonal effect for all residents such that the activity level was lowered towards summer. Looking into individual cases, we identified for a person a rapid decline three months prior to her death. As for another person who fell down, we identified a rapid decline a week prior to the incident. Both showed a change in their behavioural patterns, too. Data collection for long term is useful for assessing residents’ conditions. With sufficient data, we can detect abnormalities.