JP7604792B2 - CARE INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM, CARE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND CARE INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a care information processing program. In particular, the present invention relates to a care information processing program that analyzes information about care for a person receiving care or the like.

In Japan, the high economic growth after the war has led to improved living standards, improved sanitary conditions, and improved medical standards, resulting in a notable increase in life expectancy. This, combined with a declining birth rate, has resulted in an aging society with a high aging rate. In such an aging society, it is expected that the number of people who require nursing care due to illness, injury, aging, etc. will increase.

Nursing homes, hospitals, and other facilities have introduced various systems, such as nurse call systems and nursing record systems, to support the work of staff who deal with people who require nursing care. Furthermore, in recent years, various technologies have been proposed to analyze and improve the work status of staff. For example, the following Patent Document 1 describes a technology that records the content and frequency of calls from residents, time information, etc., and when a call is made, outputs the content of the most frequent calls in each time period to the staff's terminal, making it possible to predict the content of the call.

JP 2012-29796 A

However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 predicts the content of a call based only on the content, frequency, and time of past calls, which results in a problem of low prediction accuracy. For this reason, when a call is made from the target person, it is necessary to rush to the target person's location to confirm the content of the call, which results in a problem of inefficient response to calls from the target person.

The present invention has been made to solve such problems. In other words, the object is to provide a care information processing program, a care information processing device, and a care information processing system that can efficiently respond to calls from subjects.

The above-mentioned problems of the present invention are solved by the following means.

( 1 ) A step (a) of acquiring care information from a storage unit, the care information including an event requiring care, a time when the event occurred, and a content of care provided to the subject of care due to the event;
(b) extracting, based on the care information, the time when the event or the care occurred and the content of the event or the care that occurred as a life pattern of the subject;
(c) classifying the subjects so that the subjects who received the same event or the same care were grouped together for each time period in which the event or the care occurred based on the time when the extracted event or the care occurred and the content of the event or the care that occurred at that time;
(d) outputting information relating to the result of the classification to a terminal equipped with a display unit;
A care information processing program for causing a computer to execute a process having the above-mentioned steps .

(2) The memory unit further stores map information including coordinates of a room in which the subject is located, a storeroom, a waiting room for the care staff, a kitchen, a hall, a bathroom, a dressing room, a waste disposal room, and a passageway in the facility;
The step (a) further includes acquiring information of the map from the storage unit;
In the step (c), by referring to the map information based on the coordinates of the waiting room, the coordinates of the living room, and the classification of the subject, the waiting room that has the shortest travel distance from the waiting room to the living room of the subject classified into the same group is designated, and the placement of the staff is determined;
The care information processing program according to (1) above, wherein the step (d) outputs information regarding the result of the determination together with the result of the classification.

(3) The memory unit further stores map information including coordinates of a room in which the subject is located, a storeroom, a waiting room for the care staff, a kitchen, a hall, a bathroom, a dressing room, a waste disposal room, and a passageway in the facility;
The step (a) further includes acquiring information of the map from the storage unit;
In the step (c), by referring to the map information based on the coordinates of the waiting room, the coordinates of the room, and the classification of the subject, a placement of the subject classified into the same group is determined so that the room in which the subject classified into the same group is present is located at a shortest travel distance from the waiting room;
The care information processing program according to (1) above, wherein the step (d) outputs information regarding the result of the determination together with the result of the classification.

( 4 ) The event is at least one of an event that the staff providing the care should respond to by being notified to the staff, an event that the staff should respond to at a fixed time, and an event that the staff should respond to when they notice it;
The care information processing program according to any one of (1) to ( 3 ) above, wherein the content of the care includes information regarding at least one of the subject's eating, bathing, waking up, excretion, and water intake.

( 5 ) The terminal comprises:
A care information processing program according to any one of (1) to ( 4 ) above , which is a staff terminal used by the staff providing the care, or an administrator terminal used by an administrator who oversees the staff .

( 6 ) A care information processing device that executes the care information processing program according to any one of (1) to ( 5 ) above.

( 7 ) A care information processing device according to ( 6 ) above, and a terminal equipped with a display unit ,
The care information processing device transmits information regarding the result to the terminal ;
The terminal is a care information processing system that displays information regarding the result on the display unit .
(8) The terminal
The care information processing system described in (7) above is a staff terminal used by the staff providing the care and/or an administrator terminal used by an administrator who oversees the staff.

Care information including events and times requiring care is acquired, and the lifestyle pattern of the person receiving care is extracted based on the care information. Based on the extracted lifestyle pattern, an analysis is performed of at least one of the times when events occur, the content of the events, and the correlations between multiple events, and information regarding the results of the analysis is output. This makes it possible to estimate or predict the necessary response and classify the person based on the person's lifestyle pattern, thereby making it possible to respond more efficiently to calls from the person.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a monitoring system. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a detection unit installed in a subject's room. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a detection unit. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a server. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an administrator terminal. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a staff terminal. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of care information stored in a server. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of map information stored in a server. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the server. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a staff terminal. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on an administrator terminal. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining processing executed in the monitoring system.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. Note that in the description of the drawings, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions will be omitted. Also, the dimensional ratios in the drawings have been exaggerated for the convenience of explanation, and may differ from the actual ratios.

(Overall composition)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a monitoring system, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a detection unit installed in a subject's room.

As shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring system 1 includes multiple detection units 10, a server 20, an administrator terminal 30, and one or more staff terminals 40. These are connected to each other via a network 50, such as a LAN (Local Area Network), a telephone network, or a data communication network, by wire or wirelessly, so that they can communicate with each other. The network 50 may include relays such as repeaters, bridges, routers, or cross-connects that relay communication signals. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the staff terminal 40 is connected to the detection units 10, the server 20, and the administrator terminal 30 via a network 50, such as a wireless LAN (e.g., a LAN conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard) that includes an access point 51, so that they can communicate with each other.

The monitoring system 1 is disposed at an appropriate location according to the subject 70. The subject 70 (the subject to be monitored) is, for example, a patient who needs nursing care due to illness or injury, a person who needs nursing care due to a decline in physical ability due to old age, a person living alone, or a patient hospitalized in a hospital facility. In particular, from the viewpoint of enabling early detection and early response, the subject 70 may be a person who needs to be detected when a specific inconvenient event such as an abnormal condition occurs to the subject. For this reason, the monitoring system 1 is suitably disposed in buildings such as elderly welfare facilities, hospitals, and residences according to the type of subject 70. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring system 1 is disposed in a building of a facility that has multiple rooms (living rooms) in which multiple subjects 70 live and multiple rooms including a nurse's station.

The detection units 10 are placed in each room, which is the observation area of the subject 70. In the example shown in FIG. 1, four detection units 10 are placed in each room of the subjects 70, Mr. A, Mr. B, Mr. C, and Mr. D. The observation area of the detection units 10 includes a bed 60. Staff members 80 who provide nursing care or other such services (e.g., care) to the subject 70 each carry a staff terminal 40, which is a mobile terminal. However, the location and number of each component of the monitoring system 1 are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1. For example, the server 20 does not have to be placed in the nurse's station, and may be an external server unit connected to the network 50.

(Detection Unit 10)
3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the detection unit 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the detection unit 10 includes a control unit 11, a communication unit 12, a camera 13, a nurse call unit 14, and a voice input/output unit 15, which are connected to each other via a bus.

The control unit 11 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memories such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), and controls each part of the detection unit 10 and performs calculation processing according to a program. The control unit 11 may also include an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) as a memory.

The communication unit 12 is an interface circuit (e.g., a LAN card) for communicating with other devices, such as the server 20, the administrator terminal 30, or the staff terminal 40, via the network 50.

The camera 13 is placed, for example, on the ceiling or upper part of a wall of a room, captures an area including the subject 70's bed 60 as an observation area, and outputs a captured image (image data). Hereinafter, the image captured by the camera 13 will also be referred to simply as a "captured image." The captured image includes an image including the subject 70. The captured image includes still images and videos. The camera 13 is a near-infrared camera, but a visible light camera may be used instead, or both may be used in combination.

The control unit 11 recognizes the behavior of the subject 70 from the images captured by the camera 13. The recognized behaviors include "getting up" to get up from the bed 60, "getting out" to leave the bed 60, "falling" to fall off the bed 60, and "falling" to fall onto the floor or the like.

The control unit 11 detects image silhouettes (hereinafter referred to as "human silhouettes") from multiple captured images (moving images). Human silhouettes can be detected, for example, by extracting a range of pixels with a relatively large difference using a time difference method that extracts the difference between images captured before and after the time of capture. Human silhouettes may also be detected using a background difference method that extracts the difference between a captured image and a background image. Whether the subject 70 is getting up, getting out of bed, falling over, or falling down is recognized from the detected human silhouette based on the subject 70's posture (e.g., standing, sitting, lying down, etc.) and the relative position to objects installed in the room such as the bed 60. These recognitions may be performed by a program processed by the CPU of the control unit 11, or may be performed by an embedded processing circuit. In addition, without being limited to this, all or most of these recognition processes may be performed on the server 20 side, and the control unit 11 may only transmit the captured images to the server 20. When the control unit 11 recognizes any of the actions, it transmits a notification that an event has occurred to the server 20, etc.

The staff 80 responds to the subject 70 in various ways according to the task. The tasks may include medical tasks and nursing tasks. Here, the response content for each event will be described when the task of the staff 80 is nursing tasks for the subject 70. The event is determined as "wake up", and if the determination is within a predetermined time (wake up time set by the facility (e.g., 7 to 8 a.m.)), morning care is performed. This morning care includes face washing, assistance with brushing teeth, wearing dentures, assistance with changing clothes, etc. In addition, if the event is "getting out of bed", wheelchair transfer and walking assistance may be required. In addition, periodic (fixed time) events other than the events determined by the detection unit 10 include water intake, meal assistance, excretion assistance, wheelchair transfer, walking assistance, and position change (prevention of bedsores). For these periodic events, an alert may be generated by the nurse call unit 14 or the like at the fixed time.

The nurse call unit 14 includes a push button switch, and detects a nurse call when the subject 70 presses the switch. Nurse calls include care calls and the like. Instead of a push button switch, a nurse call may be detected by an audio microphone. When the switch of the nurse call unit 14 is pressed, i.e., when a nurse call is detected, the control unit 11 sends a notification that a nurse call has been made (nurse call notification) to the server 20, etc., via the communication unit 12 and the network 50.

The voice input/output unit 15 is, for example, a speaker and a microphone, and enables voice calls by transmitting and receiving voice signals between the staff terminal 40 and the like via the communication unit 12. The voice input/output unit 15 may be connected to the detection unit 10 via the communication unit 12 as an external device of the detection unit 10.

The detection unit 10 may further include a Doppler shift type body movement sensor that transmits and receives microwaves in the direction of the bed 60 and detects the Doppler shift of the microwaves caused by body movements (e.g., breathing movements) of the subject 70. This body movement sensor detects chest body movements (up and down movement of the chest) caused by the breathing movements of the subject 70, and recognizes that there is an abnormality in the micro-body movement when it detects a disruption in the period of the chest body movement or an amplitude of the chest body movement that is below a preset threshold.

In this embodiment, events broadly include events that require the staff 80 to respond to the subject 70. For example, events include an event that the staff 80 should respond to when an alert is issued to the staff 80 (referred to as a first event), an event that the staff 80 should respond to at a fixed time (referred to as a second event), and an event that the staff 80 should respond to when they notice it (referred to as a third event). First events include, for example, a nurse call, getting up, getting out of bed, falling, falling, and abnormal micro-movements. Second events include, for example, eating, bathing, changing clothes, and transferring to a wheelchair for a walk, etc. Third events include, for example, excretion care at the verbal request of the subject 70, temperature measurement when a fever is suspected, and response when vomiting occurs.

The detection unit 10 transmits (outputs) information about the detected event (hereinafter also simply referred to as "event information") and the captured image to the server 20.

(Server 20)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the server.

The server 20 includes a control unit 21, a communication unit 22, and a storage unit 23. In this embodiment, the server 20 constitutes a care information processing device. The server 20 may be provided in the same building as the room for the subject 70, or may be provided in a remote location and connectable via a network. For example, the server 20 may be a cloud server that is virtually constructed by multiple servers located on a network such as the Internet. Each component is connected to each other via a bus so that they can communicate with each other. The control unit 21 and the communication unit 22 have the same functions as the control unit 11 and the communication unit 22 of the detection unit 10, respectively, and therefore detailed description will be omitted.

The storage unit 23 stores the program according to this embodiment. The above components of the server 20 are controlled by the control unit 21 according to the program. The storage unit 23 also records and accumulates various information related to the subject 70 and the staff 80. Furthermore, the storage unit 23 records information related to each event of the subject 70 and information related to the staff 80's response to each event as care information. The care information includes information related to events and times that require care. The care information includes nursing records (care records), which are information indicating the time and content of care, and nurse call records, which are information indicating the implementation history and content of nurse calls. The information recorded in the storage unit 23 will be described in detail later.

The server 20, by using the event information and captured images received from the detection unit 10 alone or in cooperation with the detection unit 10, determines (identifies) which subject 70 the event recognized by the detection unit 10, such as getting up, getting out of bed, falling, or calling the nurse, pertains to. This determination is made by determining the subject 70 (i.e., the occupant of the room) associated with the room number in which the detection unit 10 that recognized the event is installed. Note that, if the subject 70 carries an IC tag, the subject 70 may be determined by reading the IC tag with an RFID reader installed in each room. Note that, if there are multiple subjects 70 in one room, such as in a shared room, the subject 70 may be determined by placing a detection unit 10 for each bed 60.

When the server 20 receives event information from the detection unit 10, it notifies the staff member 80 of the occurrence of the event by sending an event notification including the name of the subject 70 who caused the event, the room number, and the details of the event to the staff terminal 40, and instructs the staff member 80 on how to respond to the event.

The server 20 acquires the care information and extracts the subject's lifestyle pattern based on the care information. The server 20 also performs an analysis of at least one of the times when an event occurs, the contents of the event, and the correlations between multiple events based on the extracted lifestyle pattern, and outputs information related to the results of the analysis.

(Administrator terminal 30)
5 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the administrator terminal 30. The administrator terminal 30 is a so-called PC (Personal Computer) and includes a control unit 31, a communication unit 32, a display unit 33, and an input unit 34, which are interconnected by a bus.

The control unit 31 has a similar configuration to the control unit 11 of the detection unit 10, and includes a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc.

The communication unit 32 is an interface for various local connections, such as a network interface for wired communication based on standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), and an interface for wireless communication based on standards such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and IEEE 802.11, and communicates with each terminal connected to the network 50.

The display unit 33 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays various information.

The input unit 34 is equipped with a keyboard, numeric keypad, mouse, etc., and is used to input various information.

In this embodiment, the administrator terminal 30 is used as a terminal for the administrator 90. The administrator 90 is, for example, a manager who supervises the staff 80.

The administrator terminal 30 receives instructions from the administrator 90, etc., regarding the analysis and output of care information, and transmits the received instructions to the server 20.

(Staff terminal 40)
6 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the staff terminal. The staff terminal 40 includes a control unit 41, a wireless communication unit 42, a display unit 43, an input unit 44, a voice input/output unit 45, and a position acquisition unit 46, which are interconnected by a bus. In this embodiment, the staff terminal 40, together with the server 20, constitutes a care information processing system.

The control unit 41 has the same configuration as the control unit 11 of the detection unit 10, and includes a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc.

The wireless communication unit 42 is capable of wireless communication using standards such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (registered trademark), and communicates wirelessly with each device either directly or via the access point 51.

The display unit 43 and the input unit 44 are, for example, touch panel displays, and a touch sensor acting as the input unit 44 is superimposed on the display surface of the display unit 43, which is made up of a liquid crystal or the like. Various instructions are sent to the staff member 80 by the display unit 43 and the input unit 44. The display unit 43 and the input unit 44 also display an operation screen showing an event notification, and accept various operations such as input of a response to accept a response to an event or input of nursing care records via the operation screen.

The voice input/output unit 45 is, for example, a speaker and a microphone, and enables the staff member 80 to make voice calls between other staff terminals 40 via the wireless communication unit 42. The staff terminal 40 can be configured as, for example, a portable communication terminal device such as a tablet computer, a smartphone, or a mobile phone.

The location acquisition unit 46 acquires information regarding the location of the staff terminal 40 based on, for example, GPS, Wi-Fi, signals received from beacons installed anywhere within the facility, and detection information from various sensors such as acceleration sensors. The information acquired by the location acquisition unit 46 is used as information (location information) for identifying the location of the staff member 80 carrying the staff terminal 40. The location information acquired by the location acquisition unit 46 is transmitted to the server 20 in association with, for example, information on the date and time when the location information was acquired.

Next, we will explain the information stored in the memory unit 23 of the server 20.

Figure 7 shows an example of care information stored on the server.

As shown in FIG. 7, the care information includes the content (type) of care given to each subject 70, the time of occurrence, the time of response, information on the responding staff 80, and information on items used during care. The content of care includes, for example, meal assistance, bathing assistance, wake-up assistance, excretion assistance, water intake assistance, wheelchair transfer, walking assistance, and position change (prevention of bedsores). The care information also includes a care call record showing the implementation status and implementation history of a care call (nurse call). Depending on the response of each care, more detailed content may be recorded. For example, in the case of a meal, the meal time, food intake, meal content, etc. may be recorded in chronological order. Alternatively, in the case of a bath, the bath time and bath type (mechanical bath, shower, normal bath, etc.) may be recorded. As the occurrence time, for example, the time when the event is detected by the detection unit 10, the scheduled time set in advance in the case of regular care, the time input by the staff 80, etc. are recorded. Additionally, information about items used during care, such as diapers in the case of excretion assistance, is recorded.

Figure 8 shows an example of map information stored on the server.

As shown in FIG. 8, the memory unit 23 of the server 20 stores map information showing a map of staff member 80's activity area, such as rooms (rooms 1 to 8), storerooms, waiting rooms, kitchens, halls, bathrooms, changing rooms, waste disposal rooms, and corridors. Coordinates on the map are pre-associated with coordinates showing the position of staff member 80, which are detected as position information on the staff terminal 40.

In the map illustrated in FIG. 8, rooms 1 to 8 are rooms in which the subjects 70 are located. Information on the subjects 70 in each room may be stored in association with the map information. The warehouse is a room in which materials necessary for responding to each event are stored. Information on materials stored in the warehouse and information on events for which each material is required may be stored in association with the map information. For example, diapers may be stored as materials stored in the warehouse, and the fact that diapers are required for excretion care of a specific subject 70 (excretion care that requires diaper changing) may be stored in association with the map information. The waiting room is a room where the staff 80 waits when no event is occurring. The hall, bathroom, dressing room, waste disposal room, etc. are rooms used according to the purpose at various events. The map information may be stored in association with information on each event for each room. The passage is an area through which the staff 80 can move between the rooms.

The map shown by the map information is not limited to a two-dimensional map showing a floor plan of the facility as shown in FIG. 8, but may be, for example, a three-dimensional map showing the structure of the facility in three dimensions. In addition, if the facility has multiple buildings and multiple floors, the map information includes information about each building and each floor.

In addition to the above information, other information may be recorded in the memory unit 23. For example, the memory unit 23 may record various information related to the event, such as still images and videos acquired by the detection unit 10 when the event occurs or when responding to the event, as information related to the event. The memory unit 23 may also record various information related to the movement of the staff members 80, such as the response time of each staff member 80 to a notification of the event occurrence acquired by the staff terminal 40, the number of steps traveled when responding to the event, the number of floors traveled, etc.

The above information may be stored in a location other than the memory unit 23 of the server 20, and may be stored in various storage devices such as a cloud server connected to the server 20 via a network. The above information is not limited to being constructed as a single database, and may be distributed and stored in multiple databases that are mutually associated by key information such as an event ID.

The detection unit 10, server 20, administrator terminal 30, and staff terminal 40 may include components other than those described above, or may not include some of the components described above.

Next, we will explain the operation of the server 20 in the monitoring system 1.

Figure 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the server. This flowchart can be executed by the control unit 21 in accordance with a program stored in the memory unit 23 of the server 20.

As shown in FIG. 9, the control unit 21 acquires care information (step S101). For example, the control unit 21 reads and acquires the care information stored in the memory unit 23.

Next, the control unit 21 extracts the life pattern of the subject 70 based on the care information acquired in the processing of step S101 (step S102). The life pattern of the subject 70 is information indicating the situation or tendency of events related to the subject 70 or care for the subject 70, and includes information on the timing of occurrence of each event or care, the time cycle, the interval between each event or care, the order of occurrence, and the like. For example, the control unit 21 acquires care information for the subject 70 for multiple days, and extracts the life pattern of the subject 70 by analyzing the correlation between the items of care that have occurred and the occurrence time of each item. For example, the control unit 21 can extract a life pattern of "bathing occurs at 4 p.m." based on the occurrence time of "bathing" on multiple days. The control unit 21 may also extract a life pattern of "excretion occurs twice in the middle of the night" based on the occurrence time of "excretion" on multiple days. The control unit 21 may also extract a life pattern of "excretion occurs 30 minutes after a meal" based on the relationship between the occurrence time of "meal" and the occurrence time of "excretion" on multiple days. The control unit 21 may also extract a lifestyle pattern such as "excretion occurs 30 minutes after fluid intake" based on the relationship between the time of occurrence of "fluid intake" and the time of occurrence of "excretion" over multiple days. The control unit 21 may perform the above-mentioned analysis using a trained model that has been machine-learned in advance using training data, or may perform the analysis using a known statistical method.

Next, the control unit 21 performs an analysis of at least one of the time when an event occurs, the content of the event, and the correlation between multiple events related to the subject 70 based on the lifestyle pattern extracted in the processing of step S102 (step S103).

For example, if a lifestyle pattern of "excretion occurs 30 minutes after a meal" is extracted in the processing of step S102, the control unit 21 can analyze that an "excretion" event occurs 30 minutes after the subject 70 is provided with "eating assistance" care, and that the subject 70 calls for "excretion assistance" care. Furthermore, the control unit 21 can analyze that there is a correlation between the two events of "eating" and "excretion". Furthermore, if a lifestyle pattern of "excretion occurs twice in the middle of the night" is extracted in the processing of step S102, the control unit 21 can analyze that the subject 70 calls for "excretion assistance" care twice in the middle of the night. Furthermore, the control unit 21 can analyze that there is a correlation between the two events of "water intake" and "excretion". Note that such correlation analysis can be performed using a known correlation analysis method. For example, when analyzing "excretion" and "fluid intake," the analysis can be performed by checking whether or not fluid was taken in 30 minutes prior to "excretion" in the care information, setting a value of "1" if fluid was taken, and "0" if fluid was not taken, and analyzing the correlation or obtaining statistics.

Next, the control unit 21 outputs information regarding the results of the analysis in the processing of step S103 (step S104).

The above-mentioned steps S102 to S104 can be performed, for example, in the following manner: Pattern 1 to Pattern 3.

<Pattern 1>
When a care call (nurse call) is made by the subject 70 and the staff 80 is called by the subject 70, the control unit 21 estimates the content of the care required for the subject 70.

For example, if there is a care call from the subject 70 at 4 p.m., the staff 80 cannot grasp the content of the care required until they arrive at the site. Therefore, the control unit 21 refers to the care information of the subject 70 and estimates the content of the care required by analyzing the content of the care performed at 4 p.m. For example, if the number of bathing assistance sessions performed on the subject at 4 p.m. is greater than the number of other care sessions such as excretion assistance sessions, the control unit 21 can infer that bathing assistance will be required. Furthermore, the control unit 21 may take into account information on the date and day of the week. For example, if bathing assistance is often performed at 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and a care call is received at 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the control unit 21 can infer that bathing assistance will be required. The inferred content is output from the server 20 as information to be displayed on the display unit 43 of the staff terminal 40, for example.

Figure 10 shows an example of a screen displayed on a staff terminal.

As shown in FIG. 10, the display unit 43 of the staff terminal 40 displays an operation screen 431 on which an event list is displayed. On the operation screen 431, the event list a11 indicates that a care call has occurred. Then, area a12 of the event list a11 indicates that the content of the care call inferred by the server 20 is "bathing assistance."

<Pattern 2>
Regardless of whether or not a care call is made by the subject 70, the control unit 21 predicts at least one of the time when care will be needed for the subject 70 and the content of the care.

For example, in the case of a subject 70 for whom a lifestyle pattern of "bathing at 4 p.m." and "excretion occurs twice in the middle of the night" has been extracted, the control unit 21 can predict the times when bathing assistance and excretion assistance will be required for the subject 70. This allows for efficient formulation of care plans and personnel plans.

<Pattern 3>
The control unit 21 classifies the subject 70 based on the extracted life pattern. Furthermore, the control unit 21 may determine the placement of the staff 80 so as to reduce the travel distance required for the staff 80 to provide care, based on the result of classifying the subject 70 and information on the placement of the subject 70 stored in the storage unit 23 (see FIG. 8 ). Alternatively, the control unit 21 may determine the placement of the subject 70 so as to reduce the travel distance required for the staff 80 to provide care, based on information on the placement of the subject 70 stored in the storage unit 23.

For example, the control unit 21 can classify subjects 70 into A, B, and C who are likely to sound a care call during a certain time period, and D, E, and F who are not likely to sound a care call during that time period. The control unit 21 can also classify subjects 70 according to the type of care detected during a certain time period. For example, it can classify A, B, and C as subjects who will sound a care call to go to the toilet between 2 and 3 a.m., separately from other subjects 70.

If A, B, and C are classified into a group that will ring the care call to go to the toilet between 2 and 3 a.m. as described above, the control unit 21 can, for example, designate a location close to the rooms of A, B, and C as a rest area or waiting area for staff during the time period between 2 and 3 a.m. Here, an example will be described in which the facility is three stories tall and there is a waiting area (such as a nurse's station) on each floor. For example, if A and B's rooms are on the first floor and C's room is on the second floor, the control unit 21 can designate (recommend) a waiting area with the shortest total travel distance from the waiting area to each of A, B, and C's rooms. Furthermore, for example, since diaper changing also occurs during excretion (toileting) assistance, the control unit 21 may refer to the layout information as shown in FIG. 8 and designate a waiting area with the shortest total travel distance, taking into account the travel distance to the storage and disposal locations of diapers. In addition, the control unit 21 may also designate the waiting area with the shortest total travel distance when calculating the above travel distance, taking into account vertical movement such as going up and down stairs. In this case, the movement in the vertical direction may be weighted in consideration of the time and load required for ascent and descent. The analysis results as described above are output from the server 20 as information to be displayed, for example, on the display unit 33 of the administrator terminal 30.

Figure 11 shows an example of a screen displayed on the administrator terminal.

As shown in FIG. 11, the display unit 33 of the administrator terminal 30 displays a screen 331 showing the results of classifying the subjects 70 based on their lifestyle patterns. Screen 331 shows that Person A, Person B, and Person C are classified into a group that will ring a care call to go to the toilet between 2 and 3 am.

Screen 331 also displays information about the placement of staff 80, which is determined based on the classification result of subject 70 and information about the placement of subject 70, and is designed to reduce the travel distance required for care by staff 80. Screen 331 displays, as information about the placement of staff 80 determined by control unit 21, that the waiting location for staff 80 from 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. is to be "a waiting location near the diaper area on the first floor." When control unit 21 determines the placement of subject 70 so as to reduce the travel distance required for care by staff 80, information about changing the placement of subject 70 is displayed on screen 331. For example, in the example of FIG. 11, screen 331 may display that C will be moved to the same room on the first floor as A and B.

Figure 12 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing executed in the monitoring system.

As shown in FIG. 12, the monitoring system acquires care information including care records and care call records, and extracts the lifestyle pattern of the subject 70, including the time distribution of care calls, based on the care information. Based on the extracted lifestyle pattern, when the subject 70 calls the staff 80, the monitoring system predicts the content and presents it to the staff 80, or predicts the time and content when the subject 70 calls the staff 80. Furthermore, based on the extracted lifestyle pattern or further analysis of the lifestyle pattern, the monitoring system determines the facility layout, such as the placement of the subject 70 and the placement of the staff 80, so as to optimize the movement of the staff 80 (travel distance, travel route, etc.).

Specific examples are described below.

Example 1
For example, in a situation where the control unit 21 extracts a lifestyle pattern of going to the toilet 30 minutes after lunch, if a care call is made 30 minutes after lunch, the control unit 21 can predict that the content is related to the toilet. Furthermore, if the subject 70 lies down in bed after lunch and the subject 70 is detected to have gotten out of bed 30 minutes later, the control unit 21 can predict that the subject 70 will go to the toilet. Here, when predicting the content of a care call based only on the history information of the care call, the problem is that the accuracy of the prediction is low. In this embodiment, the accuracy of the prediction can be improved because the content of the care call is predicted after extracting and considering the lifestyle pattern.

Example 2
For example, the control unit can extract a lifestyle pattern such as "the subject 70 lies down in bed after going to the toilet" and obtain this as an analysis result of the correlation between events. In addition, if the control unit 21 extracts a lifestyle pattern of going to the toilet twice in the middle of the night, it can predict even the time to go to the toilet by extracting and using the time distribution of care calls based on the records of care calls recorded in chronological order.

Example 3
The control unit 21 can predict that if the subject 70 takes in a large amount of fluid before falling asleep, the subject 70 is more likely to make a care call to go to the toilet during the night while sleeping. In this case, the control unit 21 analyzes the correlation between events from the life pattern extracted based on the care information. Specifically, the control unit 21 obtains the time and content of each event such as eating, fluid intake, excretion, bathing, etc. from the care information, and calculates the degree of correlation between each event by, for example, calculating statistics on the frequency of each event. As a result, the control unit 21 can analyze that there is a high correlation between two events, for example, fluid intake and excretion.

Example 4
When the control unit 21 detects a care call from Person A, it acquires Person A's life pattern from the care information. Specifically, the control unit 21 analyzes the trends in the time and content of care calls from Person A and predicts that Person A is incontinent. The control unit 21 notifies the staff member 80 of the prediction result. As a result, the staff member 80 who has received the notification can stop by the diaper area to pick up a diaper to change before heading to Person A's room, and then move to Person A's room to change the diaper immediately. This allows the staff member 80 to move efficiently and provide fast and smooth care.

For example, if there is a care call from Mr. A at 2 a.m., both fluid intake assistance and excretion assistance are possible, and it may be difficult to determine which type of care is required. In this case, the control unit 21 obtains the amount of fluid intake for that day from the care information, and if it is less than a predetermined standard, it can determine that there is a high possibility that fluid intake assistance is required, and if it is more than the predetermined standard, it can determine that there is a high possibility that excretion assistance is required.

Example 5
When the control unit 21 detects a care call from Mr. B, it acquires Mr. B's life pattern from the care information. Specifically, the control unit 21 analyzes the trends in the time and content of the care calls from Mr. B, and predicts that the care required by Mr. B is bathing assistance. The control unit 21 notifies the staff member 80 of the prediction result. As a result, the staff member 80 who received the notification can stop by the bathroom to check if it is available before heading to Mr. B's room, and then move to Mr. B's room and take Mr. B to the bathroom. This allows the staff member 80 to move efficiently and provide fast and smooth care.

For example, when there is a care call from B at 4 p.m., it may be impossible to determine whether bathing assistance or other care is required. In this case, the control unit 21 can obtain the frequency of care provided to B at 4 p.m. from the care information, and predict the content of the required care based on the obtained frequency. For example, when the number of bathing assistance sessions provided to B at 4 p.m. is greater than the number of other types of assistance such as excretion assistance, the control unit 21 can predict that bathing assistance is required. The control unit 21 may also predict the required care by taking into account information related to the day of the week. For example, the control unit 21 can extract from the care information a lifestyle pattern that B takes baths on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and predict whether bathing assistance is required by taking into account the day of the week on which the care call was made and the extracted lifestyle pattern.

Example 6
The control unit 21 acquires the life patterns of all of the residents 70 from the care information. For example, the control unit 21 analyzes that there is a high possibility of incontinence and diaper changes occurring between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. for Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C. In this case, the control unit 21 can determine the placement of the staff 80 so that the movement line of the staff 80 between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. is optimized according to the placement of Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C and the layout of the facility.

For example, the control unit 21 classifies subjects 70 into Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C who are likely to call for care during a certain period of time, and the rest. Alternatively, the control unit 21 may classify subjects 70 according to the content of the care call. The control unit 21 can suggest the placement of staff 80 or subjects 70 so that care can be provided efficiently, taking into consideration information about the layout of the facility, such as waiting areas for staff 80, rest areas, diaper storage areas, bathing areas, eating areas, and the location of the rooms of each subject 70 (including information about the building and floor number).

As described above, in this embodiment, the control unit 21 acquires care information including events and times requiring care, and extracts the subject's lifestyle pattern based on the care information. Based on the extracted lifestyle pattern, an analysis is performed of at least one of the times when an event occurs, the contents of the event, and the correlations between multiple events, and information regarding the results of the analysis is output. This makes it possible to estimate or predict the necessary response and classify the subject based on the subject's lifestyle pattern, thereby making it possible to respond more efficiently to calls from the subject.

In addition, when the staff member 80 is called by the subject 70, the control unit 21 estimates the type of care required for the subject 70. This allows the staff member 80 to prepare the necessary responses and items in advance before heading to the subject 70, thereby enabling efficient movement of the staff member 80 and rapid and smooth care.

In addition, the control unit 21 predicts at least one of the time when care will be required for the subject 70 and the content of the care. This allows the manager of the staff 80 to efficiently formulate a care plan and a personnel plan based on the prediction.

The control unit 21 also classifies the subjects 70 based on their lifestyle patterns. This allows subjects 70 with common lifestyle patterns to be grouped together, enabling efficient care to be provided for each group.

The control unit 21 also determines the placement of the staff 80 based on information about the placement of the subject 70 and the analyzed classification of the subject 70 so as to reduce the travel distance required for the staff 80 to provide care. This minimizes the travel distance required for the staff 80, enabling efficient care to be achieved.

The control unit 21 also determines the placement of the subject 70 based on information about the placement of the subject 70 and the analyzed classification of the subject 70 so as to reduce the travel distance required for the staff 80 to provide care. This minimizes the travel distance required for the staff 80, enabling efficient care to be achieved.

The control unit 21 also notifies the staff terminal 40 of the staff member 80 of information regarding the results of the analysis. This allows the staff member 80 to immediately grasp the analysis results and provide efficient care based on the analysis results.

The above-described configuration of the monitoring system 1 is a description of the main configuration in explaining the features of the above-described embodiment, and is not limited to the above-described configuration, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. Furthermore, the configuration of a typical monitoring system is not excluded.

For example, some or all of the functions of the server 20 may be provided by the administrator terminal 30, the staff terminal 40, or the detection unit 10.

Furthermore, the detection unit 10, the server 20, the administrator terminal 30, and the staff terminal 40 may each be configured as multiple devices, or any one of the devices may be included in the other devices and configured as a single device.

In addition, some steps in the above-described flowchart may be omitted, and other steps may be added. Some of the steps may be executed simultaneously, or one step may be divided into multiple steps and executed. The order in which the steps are executed may also be changed.

The processing patterns and examples described above may be implemented in combination with each other, or each may be implemented with other content added or with some content omitted.

The means and methods for performing various processes in the monitoring system 1 according to the above-described embodiment can be realized by either a dedicated hardware circuit or a programmed computer. The above program may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a USB memory or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)-ROM, or may be provided online via a network such as the Internet. In this case, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is usually transferred to and stored in a storage unit such as a hard disk. The above program may be provided as a standalone application software, or may be incorporated as a function into the software of the device such as the detection unit.

1. Monitoring system,
10 detection unit,
11 control unit,
12 Communications Department,
13 Camera,
14 Nurse call department,
15 Audio input/output unit,
20 servers,
21 control unit,
22 Communications Department,
23 memory unit,
30 Administrator terminal,
31 control unit,
32 Communications Department,
33 display unit,
34 input unit,
40 Staff terminal,
41 control unit,
42 wireless communication unit,
43 display unit,
44 input unit,
45 Audio input/output unit,
46 position acquisition unit,
50 networks,
51 access points,
60 beds,
70 Subjects,
80 staff,
90 Administrator.

Claims (8)

(a) acquiring care information from a storage unit, the care information including an event requiring care, a time when the event occurred, and a content of care provided to the care recipient due to the event;
(b) extracting, based on the care information, the time when the event or the care occurred and the content of the event or the care that occurred as a life pattern of the subject;
(c) classifying the subjects so that the subjects who received the same event or the same care were grouped together for each time period in which the event or the care occurred based on the time when the extracted event or the care occurred and the content of the event or the care that occurred at that time;
(d) outputting information relating to the result of the classification to a terminal equipped with a display unit;
A care information processing program for causing a computer to execute a process having the above-mentioned steps. The storage unit further stores map information including coordinates of a room in which the subject is located, a storeroom, a waiting room for the care staff, a kitchen, a hall, a bathroom, a dressing room, a waste disposal room, and a passageway in the facility;
The step (a) further includes acquiring information of the map from the storage unit;
In the step (c), by referring to the map information based on the coordinates of the waiting room, the coordinates of the living room, and the classification of the subject, the waiting room that has the shortest travel distance from the waiting room to the living room of the subject classified into the same group is designated, and the placement of the staff is determined;
The care information processing program according to claim 1 , wherein said step (d) outputs information regarding a result of said determination together with the result of said classification. The storage unit further stores map information including coordinates of a room in which the subject is located, a storeroom, a waiting room for the care staff, a kitchen, a hall, a bathroom, a dressing room, a waste disposal room, and a passageway in the facility;
The step (a) further includes acquiring information of the map from the storage unit;
In the step (c), by referring to the map information based on the coordinates of the waiting room, the coordinates of the room, and the classification of the subject, a placement of the subject classified into the same group is determined so that the room in which the subject classified into the same group is present is located at a shortest travel distance from the waiting room;
The care information processing program according to claim 1 , wherein said step (d) outputs information regarding a result of said determination together with the result of said classification. The event is at least one of an event that the staff providing the care should respond to by being notified to the staff, an event that the staff should respond to at a fixed time, and an event that the staff should respond to when they notice it;
4. The care information processing program according to claim 1, wherein the care content includes information regarding at least one of the subject's eating, bathing, waking up, excretion, and water intake. The terminal includes:
The care information processing program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is a staff terminal used by a staff member providing the care, or an administrator terminal used by an administrator who supervises the staff. A care information processing device that executes the care information processing program according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A care information processing device according to claim 6 and a terminal equipped with a display unit,
The care information processing device transmits information regarding the result to the terminal;
The terminal is a care information processing system that displays information regarding the result on the display unit. The terminal includes:
The care information processing system according to claim 7, which is a staff terminal used by the staff providing the care, and/or an administrator terminal used by an administrator who supervises the staff.