AZ Sint- Maarten is a sizable hospital in the Mechelen region (Belgium) with five acute geriatric, psychogeriatric, and orthogeriatric care units. It has one of the area’s most extensive geriatric care programs and serves over 385,000 patients annually. As the first hospital in Belgium, AZ Sint-Maarten has installed Nobi lamps for fall detection and prevention with geriatric patients. Discover how smart lamps provide value for patients and their caretakers.

The importance of fall prevention for geriatric patients

According to the Center of Expertise for Fall and Fracture Prevention Flanders, every second somewhere in the world a person aged over 65 falls. Every 11 seconds, one of them is admitted to the emergency department. Even worse: every 19 minutes, one of them passes away due to the complications of their fall.

“Most of our geriatric patients are admitted to the hospital after a fall. It usually indicates underlying conditions. Besides physical damage, it can have psychosocial effects. Even worse, the majority of fatal incidents among older people are falls.”

​Kim Van Achteren, Cluster Responsible Care

The danger of fall incidents becomes even more evident when you consider that 50% of the elderly who remain lying on the floor for over an hour pass away within six months. Therefore, quick help after a fall is of vital importance. However, this is complicated by hospitals being weighed down by staff shortages. The safest is a fall that never happened in the first place. That is why hospitals spend effort on fall prevention now more than ever.

“Fall prevention is an important topic of interest in hospitals, especially in the geriatric unit. Through the layout of the room, the provision of aids, and the practical tips we give patients, we do everything in our power to prevent falls from happening. But that appeared to be insufficient for us. This is how, eventually, we ended up at Nobi.”

Dr. Van Esbroeck, Medical Head of Geriatrics

Smart Nobi lamps for better geriatric care

With Nobi’s AI technology, caretakers are immediately alerted when a patient falls. Also, Nobi contributes toward fall prevention by lighting up automatically when a patient gets out of bed at night. Caretakers receive a notification when a patient goes to the restroom at night so they can actively help patients with a higher risk of falling. On top of that, sleeping reports provide valuable data for preventive healthcare.

“Nobi’s smart lamp is like an ever-present guardian angel who helps us anticipate falls to support prevention or allows us to provide help after a fall incident quicker. It also gives our multidisciplinary team data to analyze what happened prior to the fall. This can support us in further treatment and therapy and help avoid falls.”

Kim Van Achteren, Cluster Responsible Care

Nobi lamps ensure that caretakers can offer assistance at any given moment. The effectiveness of Nobi’s fall prevention and detection system offers caretakers, patients, and their families peace of mind. Eventually, Nobi will take over administrative chores, so AZ Sint-Maarten’s healthcare staff can shift their focus to more important tasks.

“Both Nobi lamps in patient rooms and smaller Nobita lamps in patient bathrooms were purchased. It was a decision we made in the interest of our geriatrics patients and to support our valuable healthcare employees.”

Patrick Nieulandt, Director of the Nursing and Paramedical Department

Nobi in hospitals. Changemakers at a glance:

    • 100% effective
      every fall is detected

    • Quick help
      assistance in a mere 90 seconds after a fall

    • Peace of mind for patients, their families, and healthcare staff
      no more stress regarding undetected falls 

    • Prevent falls
      via automatic light when coming out of bed at night – thanks to notifications when getting in and out of bed, caretakers can proactively help and prevent falls

    • Tailored care
      sleep reports give insight into sleeping patterns and contain crucial information for personalized care
    • Better sleep quality
      healthcare staff only enter rooms at night when necessary — after a fall incident, or to prevent a fall from happening. This will result in a quality night’s sleep

    • Time-saving
      connecting with smart devices such as blood pressure monitors and digital patient files will help automatically and efficiently administer patient data

    • Job satisfaction​
      healthcare staff no longer have to play catch-up and gain extra time, allowing them to make a genuine difference and resulting in content employees and lower attrition rates

The future of quality care in hospitals lies with Nobi

The smart Nobi lamps offer an effective solution for the issue of fall incidents among older people. This way, Nobi want to ensure as many older people as possible can live independently and carefree for as long as possible. With the help of an extensive AI-driven system comprised of sensors and cameras, the Nobi lamp detects when someone falls to ensure help arrives on time. In addition to hospitals, Nobi lamps have proven to be useful in residential care facilities and assisted living facilities. Since 2021, Nobi has committed to international expansion with thousands of smart lamps installed in care facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Switzerland, and Germany.

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