How AI is helping Curtin Heritage Living achieve fall and incident prevention

Curtin Heritage Living introduced artificial intelligence technology into their facilities for fall and incident prevention, and have achieved that and more.

Curtin Heritage Living was founded in 1979 to ensure there would always be quality aged care for residents living in the Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Claremont and Peppermint Grove suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. The provider’s goal has always been to ensure its residents are able to continue a life well-lived in the later years of their lives, in the area in which they grew up.

As Curtin Heritage Living was in the process of building its new Marine Views Aged Care facility in Cottesloe, managing director David Cox embraced the opportunity to seek out innovations to support his and the organisation’s vision. 

Mr Cox began a world-wide search for the latest technology that could support his residents and staff in the field of fall prevention and safety. The overarching goal was to provide innovative care outcomes whilst also supporting the organisation’s care operations and staff.

Mr Cox’s search brought him together with Australian-based technology company Alpha Global, who’d already done the hard work for him in scouring the globe to develop their Digital Angel solution. 

Digital Angel uses artificial intelligence and optical sensors to detect human activity and alert staff before falls and other events happen offering 24-7 non-intrusive in-room monitoring.

“The differentiator is that other technologies look for movement so it’s generally retrospective,” explained Mr Cox. And as we know, by then the damage has already been done.

The two teams worked together under a proof-of-concept program to introduce Digital Angel into their existing facility at Riversea to detect falls and other fall prevention alerts such as bed movements, leaving the bed and many more.

When that PoC was successful they went on to deploy the solution across the brand-new 120-plus bed Marine Views facility heralding a new era of care and operational innovation that Curtin Heritage is keen to share with their peers across the aged care sector.

“We have certainly had examples where we can see that falls have been prevented, where we can see someone who is a really high falls risk has been responded to in a timely manner – and we believe we have possibly prevented a fall which is exactly what we wanted to do,” said Curtin Heritage Living’s head of care and lifestyle Pele Reeve.

“This means the staff can filter the information and prioritise appropriately, meaning the residents get the help when they need it and the staff can use their time better. It’s giving people more time to spend with people, which is what we want,” she added.

The solution has required investment on the organisation’s part, but Mr Cox says that it has already proved its worth – and hopes that by being an early adopter, other providers will also look at how they can innovate from both a design and technology perspective.

The operations and care teams now have greater capacity on a day-to-day basis and the team are looking to introduce the solution into their retirement living apartments too.  

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