06.01.2021
„Drink Smart“
Development of a smart drinking system to prevent dehydration in old age.
Drink Smart aims to develop a smart drinking system, involving end users, that measures and controls the daily fluid intake of older adults. Project components include measuring the amount of fluid consumed, recording it via dedicated software, and reminding users to drink enough.
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FH Campus Wien / Schedl
Ensuring adequate hydration is a major challenge for older adults, as well as for their caregivers and nursing staff. With increasing age, both the body's water content and the sensation of thirst decrease significantly. This makes older adults particularly vulnerable to dehydration. Insufficient hydration can lead to confusion, apathy, and life-threatening circulatory collapse with unconsciousness or kidney failure. Hospitalization is often necessary. Therefore, preventing dehydration is of paramount importance in nursing care settings. Typically, those receiving care are verbally encouraged to drink enough. Fluid intake and output are recorded in the nursing documentation. However, this is imprecise and based on estimates (in consultation with the clients) made by nursing staff. This means that older adults in home care settings often cannot be adequately cared for.
Goal 1:
A market-ready smart drinking system is available. This system is capable of measuring the daily fluid intake of elderly people requiring care and issuing an alert if fluid intake is too low.
Goal 2:
Drink Smart integrates with and communicates with electronic care documentation and can be used as a stand-alone solution (smartphone app).
Goal 3: Drink Smart achieves high user acceptance due to its simple and safe operation and is used to prevent dehydration and support the management of chronic illnesses.
Environmental analysis and assessment of user needs
Design and development of a functional prototype
Evaluation of the prototype with users
In summary, the system demonstrated suitable technical performance and stability during practical trials. Fluid intake was measured accurately, and data was fully transferred from the system to the electronic documentation. Visual and audible reminder functions, as well as the daily display of fluid intake, were also successfully implemented. The visual and audible signals can be customized to this interval. The results show that in some individuals, using the system evoked positive emotions, increased motivation to drink, and improved overall well-being. Registered nurses appreciate the automatic recording of fluid intake, which contributes to the early detection of dehydration. If a fluid deficit is foreseeable, a corresponding nursing diagnosis must be made, which includes maintaining a fluid intake and output balance that must be recorded in the nursing documentation. This is because actual monitoring of fluid intake is not possible for these individuals; only a retrospective estimate is available. Since the system met the requirements of all stakeholders in the field test, it can be considered highly usable. Although some handling difficulties were noted, the system is described as simple. The high acceptance rate, confirmed by the cup's use on 85% of possible days, is particularly noteworthy. The use of Drink Smart can lead to cost savings within the healthcare system. Study results from two English hospitals show that 6.5 and 22.5 out of 1,000 hospital admissions, respectively, are due to dehydration, and that the mortality rate for these patients is 45–46% (Hodgkinson et al. 2003). Furthermore, the use of the drinking system can lead to maintaining or improving quality of life, as positive feedback regarding well-being was received after just a few weeks of testing.