New technology aims to prevent falls for elderly
BBC By Aileen Moynagh
BBC News NI
A newly-funded project is claiming that new technology can detect signs of falls by older people up to 32 days before they occur.
Falling is one of the most significant issues affecting the health and wellbeing of the older population.
The project, 'Move More Live More', involves Age NI, the Public Health Agency (PHA), the Southern Health and Social Care Trust and Ulster University.
Phyllis McGahan is 84 and loves nothing more than walking, but that was not always the case.
"I had a bad fall a couple of years ago," she told BBC News NI.
"In the middle of it all there was Covid and I lost my husband, and I was not in a great place."
Phyllis got a new knee 18 years ago and said it was never right, but signing up for a research project - with the help of a smartwatch and technology - changed her life.
"If I am sitting for a long time, it tells me to get up and move," she said.
"It does not have to tell me that often now - it used to in the beginning, but now I know up here I have to walk.
