Unobtrusive sensing of activities of daily living: a preliminary report

Assessment of patients´ functional status in a rehabilitation setting is typically done by an observing therapist using a subjective rating scale such as FIM. As a method to introduce objectivity and “ecological validity” into the assessment process, engineers from Rehabilitation Engineering at the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) are installing sensors into the Independence Square(R) recently constructed in the hospital. The aim is to add objective data to a patient´s chart without requiring additional time or effort from the PT, OT or SLP. To date, sensors have been installed in strategic locations and data is being collected sensors and displayed to therapists to evaluate CHI decisions. Later phases will evaluate the system´s utility in actual home settings as a telerehab method for functional monitoring