Bridgit Care – Smart Monitoring for Vulnerable People

“Bridgit Care (part of Upstream Health) provide remote sensing to monitor the activities of vulnerable people in their home environment. The tech was originally designed with CEO Darren Crombie’s Grandad in mind, to assist the family members caring for him. Bridgit is a simple yet effective solution that uses 5G to provide messages and weather updates to the end-user, whilst keeping the family informed and alerting them of any out-of-character activity. Darren spoke at the virtual MK5G Health Showcase Event on the 17th of March to talk about Bridgit Care and their connectivity journey”

John Vesey, Health Business Manager

Caring for vulnerable loved ones can be challenging. Round-the-clock assistance is rarely feasible outside of a care home environment due to other responsibilities and commitments. Many medical emergencies are time-sensitive; if a vulnerable person requires assistance and there is no one there to help, the long-term health implications can be severe. Feelings of anxiety and worry are therefore common amongst care providers and loved ones.

[My Grandad] lives alone. My nana passed away a few years ago and people like my mum and my sister are the ones who provide the primary support for him. So, we wanted to build a solution that was easy for him to use, so the initial concept was to have some simple touch buttons on the front. It needed to contain a number of sensors so that we could understand that Grandads up, that he’s moving, that he’s eating, that he’s feeling okay. The device also needed to include a simple interface so that we can engage him, send messages to him, and communicate.

Our initial unit uses 2G. The client receives a home-hub unit which is a simple to use design, nice and accessible with big push buttons and a simple e-paper screen. Throughout the day my Grandad gets messages from BBC news alerts, weather forecasts and he’s able to check in with family members.

The unit costs £129.95 with a £12.95 per month subscription fee (ex VAT), providing all that key information and insight from a client that helps their family members to support them in their own homes. We are currently in trials at a number of sites in the UK.

We also offer a watch solution that allows us to track respiratory rate, heart rate, it tells the time, and it also allows for calls – just from the watch. This means my Grandad can take this out with him, he can get rid of the push button from around his neck, and he can be supported anywhere. If he has a fall, if his heart rate spikes, if his respiratory rate changes, or if he just gets lost, he can always get support. We track his location, we can geofence him and if he needs help at any point, he can just push a button that activates the phone on his wrist, so he can just give us a call.

Upstream Health are pleased to have been given the opportunity to get involved with the MK:5G Care Home event. We’ve since been introduced to BT – a partner on the project – who we are hoping to work with to look at how we support the 1.7 million clients who require new GSM based solutions before the BT analogue network closes in 2025.

Darren Crombie, CEO, Upstream Health & Bridgit Care

To find out more or to get in touch, please use the following link: https://www.bridgit.care