TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

CARES4WOUNDS uses digital technology and artificial intelligence to provide a comprehensive system for wound assessment and management. Chronic wounds are particularly prevalent among older people in care facilities and this innovation streamlines the process for evaluation and treatment.

A trip to an unfamiliar place for a wheelchair user or older person with limited mobility can be daunting. WheeLog!, an application for cellphones and computers, addresses these challenges by creating an interactive map that allows users to clearly see the accessibility of public spaces, sharing barrier-free-related information from all over Japan—and hopefully around the world in the near future.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless delivery suddenly became a critical tool to limit the spread of the disease and facilitate social distancing. The Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing launched a program in 2020 to respond to this need, developing an autonomous robot that could make contactless deliveries in long-term care settings.

The Matsudo Consortium quickly adapted their long-term care prevention program to face the challenges posed by COVID-19. They developed an online version of their "Kayoi-no-ba" social gatherings to provide older people with the opportunity to connect with each other and across generations and to become more confident in their ability to use tablet technology.

By leveraging smartphone technology with their community-based healthcare and monitoring system mobile app, Buddy HomeCare assists three target groups: older people with low incomes, older people with middle and high incomes, and youth with low incomes.

By combining existing surveillance technology with AI, SmartPeep offers “care-oriented optical sensors” that provide proactive alerts, drawing the caregivers’ attention to anomalies that occur in a resident’s room or a common area of the facility.

In order to relieve physical stress on caregivers, the No Lifting Association (NLA) has worked with Professor Hajime Asama to develop and popularize a system of “no-lift care,” which allows caregivers to care for the elderly without relying solely on the caregiver’s physical strength.

As people grow older, they experience many changes both mentally and physically, including bladder control issues. To address health problems associated with incontinence, a company called Triple W Japan K.K. has developed DFree, a wearable device that anticipates when the user will need to use the toilet.

AnshinNet is an ICT (Information and Communications Technology) tool that allows caregivers to quickly detect health irregularities in seniors. It is a health management system that focuses on the vital statistics that caregivers monitor daily, helping them find any shifts at an early stage.