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Straits Times
06-07-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Smart sensors used in study to detect cognitive decline in seniors who live alone
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox SINGAPORE – Ms Julie Chia lives alone in a flat in Tampines and keeps herself active despite her advanced age. The 97-year-old feels secure each time she heads out, whether it is to the Lions Befrienders (LB) Active Ageing Centre at her void deck to play Rummy-O with her friends or nearby to buy the newspaper and her dinner. The sprightly woman is among more than 200 seniors living alone who have been recruited since 2020 for a longitudinal study looking into using smart sensor technology to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – a condition that increases one's risk of developing dementia – in order to respond to it early. This will help seniors to age better and remain for longer in the community. 'With this (beacon sensor) on my keychain, I know that whenever I go out, someone knows. I feel more relieved,' said Ms Chia. What the researchers have gathered from the second phase of the study, with sensor data collected from 63 seniors living alone, is that the machine learning-based prediction technology is able to detect MCI at a 90 per cent accuracy rate. This is an improvement from the previous performance of 70 per cent obtained in the first phase of the study in 2020. The data for the study is generated by eight sensors placed in different parts of the participants' homes, such as the living room, under the mattress, inside their medicine box or cabinet, and on the door. A sensor resembling a tag is also attached to their keychain to help track whether the senior participants have their keys with them when they go out. Additionally, the seniors are given a wearable device to measure their daily steps and heart rate. In Ms Chia's case, the sensors were installed at her home in April 2021. Unlike a traditional video surveillance system that captures images and voices, the sensors monitor movement and daily routines discreetly, including sleep patterns, physical activity and memory lapses. They also track how often the senior moves around the flat or goes out and for how long, how well he or she sleeps, or the frequency of forgetting personal items, particularly their medications. A sensor resembling a tag is also attached to their keychain to help track whether the senior participants have their keys with them when they go out. ST PHOTO: TARYN NG The longitudinal study, called Sensors In-home for Elder Wellbeing , is led by Associate Professor Iris Rawtaer, head and senior consultant at the department of psychiatry and director of research at Sengkang General Hospital , and p rofessor of computer science Tan Ah Hwee from Singapore Management University. It is estimated that there will be 152,000 individuals living with dementia in Singapore by 2030, and 187,000 by 2050. While global study statistics vary, up to half of all people with MCI go on to develop dementia within five years, said Prof Rawtaer. In 2024, the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care found that 45 per cent of cases of dementia could potentially be delayed by addressing some of the modifiable risk factors, such as social isolation, untreated vision loss and high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, commonly known as bad cholesterol. However, many people are not even aware of experiencing MCI, the at-risk state for dementia. They seek help only after significant cognitive decline has occurred, missing the crucial window for intervention and advanced planning, said Prof Rawtaer. This is where the sensor system can help. 'Nine out of 10 times, it essentially outperforms your pen and paper routine screening instruments like your MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) and your Moca (Montreal Cognitive Assessment),' Prof Rawtaer told The Straits Times. MMSE and Moca are brief screening tools used to assess cognitive function and detect MCI as well as mild dementia. The participants in the study go through detailed neurocognitive assessments yearly, providing the benchmark against which the machine learning models in the sensor system are tested. 'The question is whether seniors can accept the use of the sensor system. Is this intrusive? Is this inconvenient? Is this going to be something that we can scale and do in the long term in the community?' Prof Rawtaer said. Ms Chia, for instance, did not have her wearable device – a study requirement – on her on the day of the interview. A spokesman for LB, who was with her that day, said the seniors may forget to charge their wearable device. Prof Tan said that for the second phase of the study, the team developed an advanced machine learning-based artificial intelligence (AI) model to handle irrelevant or missing sensor data due to hardware failure, for instance. The AI can also explain why it flagged someone as being at risk, he said. As an example, it has learnt that people with MCI often move around less while at home and are more likely to forget to take their medication. 'At SMU, we have one data engineer and two data analysts looking at the data. Moving forward, we are thinking that we should partner with a commercial party... to be able to do this in a viable manner. It's not just the installation of the equipment but the maintenance and the day-to-day monitoring,' he said. The total installation cost of the sensor system is below $1,000. In the third planned phase of the study – for which the researchers are awaiting funding – they will test the sensors in multi-person households, and look at new digital biomarkers and how to reduce the numbers of sensors used to make the monitoring system more efficient and affordable. Beyond cognitive assessment, the smart sensor system could be expanded to support safety monitoring and health assessment, the researchers said. LB's executive director Karen Wee said the smart sensor system has a lot of potential not just in helping seniors to age well in the community, but also in enabling providers like it to better support the seniors. 'Wearables may not be something that the seniors of today are keen on, but who is to say that in 10 years' time they will not be widespread,' she said.
Boston Globe
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
In Singapore, grandmothers playing rough at a kids' sport
As Singapore has prospered, life expectancy here has soared to 84 and now nearly a fifth of the population is older than 65. In recent decades, the government has raised not only the retirement age but also what it calls the re-employment age, or how long employers are required to extend jobs for people after they reach retirement age. It is also giving more benefits, like cash payouts, to some older citizens, as well as those in their 50s and 60s, whom it calls 'young seniors.' It has dispatched 'Silver Generation Ambassadors' to conduct door-to-door visits with seniors who live alone to encourage them to exercise, play games like Rummy-O, and learn robotics and other languages. Older residents are now part of a cheerleading squad, an e-sports team and the flippa ball outfit. Advertisement It's all in a bid to help people age well. The flippa ball team started in 2016 when a sports official at a swimming complex saw Ting Kum Luen coaching a children's flippa ball class and asked him if he could do the same for a group of older men and women. He was skeptical. Advertisement 'They are so fragile,' Ting told the official. The ball could hit their eyes, he added. Even though the men and women were somewhat active and the game would be played in a 3-foot-deep pool that would not require treading water, it was still fast-paced. As it turned out, only the women showed up, and they have not stopped coming. After the first few practices, they complained of bruises and scratches. Still, more than 20 women usually turn up for practice every Tuesday at the Yio Chu Kang Swimming Complex, sometimes with their daughters and granddaughters. Lee, 70, the player who implored Ting to call a foul, said she never found the time to exercise when she was raising her three children, the youngest of whom is now 36. Discovering flippa ball two years ago, Lee said, has allowed her to feel like she did when she was a little girl, 'very cheerful, unrestrained and lively.' Singaporeans aged 65 and above get free access to all public swimming pools and gyms, and Ting coaches the team pro bono. They mostly play among themselves because he said he has not been able to find others in the same age group to compete against. Koh Nguan Keng was preparing for a second knee replacement when, at a neighbor's suggestion, she first started swimming at the age of 60. A decade and half later, she plays flippa ball and is in the pool about five to six a days a week. She said she no longer has any pain in her legs and rarely sees doctors. When she does, it is to screen for her cholesterol, blood sugar and hypertension levels, part of the government's efforts to manage chronic diseases for seniors. Koh said she pays very little to see a doctor because the government subsidizes her care. Advertisement Koh, a widow, has taken classes that the government has offered to seniors for free, learning how to use an iPhone, apply makeup, make mooncakes, and set a table. She fills her time with swimming, playing mahjong and traveling with her teammates to Malaysia. 'I never feel lonely,' Koh said. During a recent practice, the women darted around, pushing through the water as they looked for the ball. Few paid attention to the rules. At one point, the ball was lobbed toward Li Fang, 82, the goalkeeper. She stretched out her hand to bat it away. Li started swimming at 71, and her reaction time used to be so slow that she would reach out for the ball long after it had sailed into the goal, according to Ting. Suzzen Chua, 55, is the de facto captain and one of the 'young seniors.' She looks out for women on the team who are introverted and checks in with them regularly. She understands how easy it is to stay at home in their shells, and prods them to come out and train. She organizes social gatherings like birthday lunches and trips to Malaysia. One player on the team, Britta Coombes, is not a grandmother nor a senior. During one play, she and Lee attacked the ball. Lee waded through the pool, while Coombes, 46, executed a swift freestyle. Their teammates shrieked. Advertisement Coombes reached it first, but Lee wrapped her arms around her waist, in a clear violation of the rules, causing her to stumble. Coombes said the Ah Mas have inspired her, showing her what it means to grow old with verve. 'You look at them and you think, 'I want to be like that when I'm that age,'' she said. 'Initially, you're like, 'I don't want to throw too hard, or I don't want to be too rough.' But then, they come at you.' Flippa ball has given the women more than just fitness. After the one-hour practice, they gathered for coffee and local favorites like kuay teow soup at a nearby hawker center. The conversation quickly turned to whether they will be buried or cremated when they die. 'We talk about it all the time, we are not afraid of death,' said Choo Chon Ah Giok, 68. 'We are just scared of not being able to move.' This article originally appeared in
