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Last year a local man had a stroke and had to re-learn to walk. His doctors wanted to monitor his recovery, so they outfitted his home with three sensors and gave him a fourth sensor to wear on his belt. 

“He had been treated for foot drop, so we wanted to see how active he was, how much walking he did in his apartment, and also how he interacted with his wife, who was quite healthy,” explained Dr. Gil Blankenship, technical principal investigator of a new study funded by the National Institute on Aging. 

“We got an excellent idea of how well the stroke survivor was,” Blankenship reported. “He was moving around; he was making his own breakfast. He seemed to be in pretty good shape.” 

Like stroke survivors, people with cognitive decline also tend to have limited mobility around the house. 

Study is done almost entirely at home 

Now researchers at the University of Maryland Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center want to try the same monitoring system with older couples, ages 50 to 80, one of whom is cognitively impaired. The study can be done entirely from home. 

“We’re trying to monitor people at home to see how they’re doing,” Blankenship said. “Are they active? Have they fallen? We’re looking for any kind of challenges that they may be facing, together with their caregivers.” 

Compensation is available for the at-home study, which lasts five days. 

“You don’t have to go anywhere; we come to you,” Blankenship said. 

Participants will take some brief tests during an at-home visit, including balance tests, short walks, sitting, standing and marching in place. They’ll also complete questionnaires and give feedback about their experience. 

Anonymous data 

This pilot study is a non-randomized, non-controlled proof-of-concept trial to test these monitoring devices with people who are cognitively impaired.  

It takes about an hour for Blankenship’s team to install and set up the plastic sensors, Blankenship said.  

“Think of three little gizmos about the size of pagers. We attach them to the wall, and you wear the fourth one,” he said. “After a while, you’ll forget you’re wearing it.” 

Although researchers collect data on your movements, they don’t capture your name or other identifying information, Blankenship said. 

“The data is private. All we have is your location and your activity measured by a device,” he said. 

“It may seem intrusive, but we’re trying to learn behavior patterns to see if your pattern is a healthy one and if it’s getting better.” 

For details about the Mobility Tracking study, call (410) 746-5406.