Monitoring and Warning System for the Elderly: A Case Study of Cardiac Arrhythmias

Thailand is experiencing an ageing population due to declining fertility rates and rising life expectancy pushing up the age median of the country. With the trend of ageing population continuing to the future, it is important for the long-term planning of the country to plan infrastructure to support the ageing society. One of the domains in which attention should be focused on is on healthcare, where increasing numbers of elderly patients will overload and challenge the existing healthcare system. Without change, it is likely that the existing system will not be capable of supporting the elderly population of the future. The research focuses on a condition called, cardiac arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeat. This condition can be a symptom of heart defect, constant monitoring is required for the patient. This research proposes a monitoring and warning system for cardiac arrhythmias, in which uses technology to help reduce the amount of medical manpower required. To increase the adoption rates, the acceptance framework for the elderly, including the components of the early warning system proposed by the United Nations, has been applied in the design of the proposed system. The system will monitor the Electrocardiogram (ECG) values, provide monitoring utilities, graphing ECG history, and includes a warning system that can automatically alert caregivers via SMS and call when an abnormal ECG status has been detected. Hence, enable the caregiver to help the elderly in emergency situations.