A cleaning robot doing its thing along the corridors of the care facility. A social care robot is putting all the seniors in a good mood in the common room. They choose songs from the screen on its chest that they want to sing with the robot. Scenes like these are by no means commonplace in senior citizen facilities in Germany. The integration of technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence [AI] in care has been tested for a long time now, but has not yet been implemented comprehensively. Pioneers like BBG Senioren-Residenzen in Braunschweig want to change that. Together with Lindera and Audi BKK, they are leading the way in digitizing care – meeting the highest standards of quality and precision.

Artificial intelligence via an app

“Both the nursing staff and the residents are extremely excited – be it because of the easy handling or the intuitive dashboard,” says Saskia Pukall, Quality Management Officer at BBG Senioren-Residenzen. Two months have passed since the Lindera SturzApp was introduced, and at the time of the first assessment, the nursing staff had already carried out around 25 mobility analyzes. The digital gait analysis – via app and tablet – has been used in the two facilities in Tuckermannstrasse and Greifswaldstrasse in Braunschweig since October 2020. A total of 234 people in need of care can be looked after in inpatient care and in some cases in short-term care in the BBG Senioren-Residenzen. Thanks to Lindera’s AI solution, they can now benefit from a detailed and objective analysis of their fall risk. A 20 to 30-second video with the tablet camera recording the senior citizens’ gait behavior and a short psychosocial questionnaire suffice to create the analysis. “The Lindera SturzApp allows us to guarantee the consistent quality of geriatric assessments and precisely record our residents’ individual risk of falling – regardless of who does the analysis,” says Saskia Pukall, Deputy Facility Manager at Tuckermannstrasse.

The Lindera app translates the results directly into individual treatment recommendations to prevent falls. These recommendation are then incorporated into the care of the senior citizens. In this way, Saskia Pukall’s team can use the recommendations to individually cater to the needs of the residents – be it in consultations or physical therapy, such as gymnastics courses and balance training. Even in interdisciplinary case discussions among colleagues, the results serve as a basis to align the further course of treatment. “Lindera makes it very easy to meet the expert standard requirements,” says the Deputy Head. “The comprehensive evaluation of the risk of falling goes far beyond previous specifications and thus supports us tremendously.”

Digitization is making it happen

“Our goal is to move forward, break boundaries, and win over young people in favor of the care profession,” says Saskia Pukall. “To achieve this, we rely on the latest scientific and technological developments, like those offered by Lindera.” The tech company has developed an extensive database of recommendations that includes more than 400 recommendations from over 150 scientific sources and is continuously being expanded. “Lindera gives my colleagues and myself fresh momentum to break out of old thought patterns and rethink ingrained ways of doing things.”

In addition to the around 95 nursing staff in both facilities, the nine trainees are a driving force behind BBG Senioren-Residenzen. Together with their practical instructor, Petra Bernhard-Kreismer, they develop new perspectives on everyday supply processes and identify new application scenarios for the Lindera recommendations. They for example combine bathing seniors with movement exercises. Ideas like these, which arise through innovative technologies, advance the care industry as a system and as an employer. Above all, however, they enable people at risk of falling to promote, improve, and maintain their physical mobility.

Making innovation accessible for everyone

In order for the digital health solution to benefit people comprehensively, the introduction of the Mobility Analysis at BBG Senioren-Residenzen is being accompanied by a study conducted by Lindera, Audi BKK, and the Charité – Berliner Universitätsmedizin AG Alter und Technik, the results of which are included in nursing research. The study will investigate, over a period of six to nine months, the short-term and long-term effects of the app on fall prevention in inpatient care for the elderly. Thereby, both the senior citizens’ perspective and that of the 12 nursing staff participating in the study are included.

25 mobility analyzes – That’s how many analyzes were carried out at the time of the first assessment of the study. The excitement for the Lindera SturzApp has long since left the circle of study participants in the BBG Senioren-Residenzen. More nurses are currently being trained in how to use the Lindera SturzApp. The goal is clear: In future, all employees should be capable of using the app on the provided tablets for a precise gait analyzes, so that as many residents as possible benefit from the meticulous results.

About BBG Senioren-Residenzen

BBG Senioren-Residenzen GmbH is a subsidiary of the oldest building cooperatives in Braunschweig. The ‘Braunschweiger Baugenossenschaft’ has built around 8,500 apartments in its centenary and has around 22,000 members today. With the BBG Senioren-Residenzen, it enables senior-friendly, barrier-free, and independent living into old age.