A Review of Fall Detection Research

Fall Detection

If you have an aging loved one who is living alone or has mobility challenges, a fall detection device could be the right choice. This technology can offer a number of benefits to help you feel confident about your loved one's safety and independence, while keeping emergency contacts informed.

Benefits of Automatic Fall Detection

While this technology is fairly new, studies have shown it is relatively reliable and can detect around 12 out of every 15 falls. However, accuracy is an issue and you may experience false alarms from time to time.

A few types of fall detectors also include a barometric pressure sensor, which helps decrease false alarms and increase the number of accurate detections. In addition, many devices send GPS data to the monitoring center so that they can find you if you have a fall outside of your home.

Duress Alarm Two-Way Communication

The most important aspect of a medical alert system is two-way communication. This feature enables your loved one to speak with the monitoring center, a loved one, or emergency responders if they’ve had a fall and are too scared or confused to press their personal help button.

This can be especially helpful for those who have memory issues or need to take medication on a daily basis. These devices can also be programmed to send reminders when a certain dose of medication needs to be taken.

As the number of people who have fallen continues to rise, a greater number of studies are being conducted to improve the effectiveness and accuracy of fall detection systems. This review aims to present an overview of the research in this area, with a focus on the latest work published over the past few years.