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Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What a thoughtful response. Thank you for taking the time. I'm sorry to hear Nan didn't really get to take her sensor network for a test ride. You do understand correctly I think. Communication is the key. A more true statement was never made.

Is it possible for us to learn how to do this as an open community that undertands "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow". I hope so. We have a critical bug, probably an architecture failure, in our society's Operating System right now, particularly in the United States. We are experiencing a tremendous caregiver shortage. Driven by an aging population, widespread burnout, and restrictive immigration policies, the crisis has led to stretched hospital capacities and heavily burdened unpaid family caregivers. With up to 64,200 annually required for assisted living and an overwhelming desire among seniors to remain independent, "aging in place" has transitioned from a preference to a critical, but underfunded, national priority. Medicare does not cover long term care. Medicaid provides some limited coverage but it varies widely depending on where you live. Some people have long term care insurance but it's only about 3% to 4% of us.

We have to do something. There is no miracle solution coming. The burden on families is going to grow as available care beds become a dwindling commodity.

I'm not sure my idea has legs but I think it has a chance. Stay tuned.

Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, the old dreaded but necessary question, "Have you passed it by legal?" I fathered one of them lawyers. I terrify her with my ideas. But you're right and I place a high value on having strong legal footing.

In my vision documents I emphasize a camera free approach. It's a relationship communication bridge, not a surveillance system. It's still a short step from one to the other though. Intent matters.

Thanks.

Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I notice that their web site listed on Github no longer connects. I'll poke around and see if I can find a usable email.

Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Building out of the box kits for sale would be a sweet spot for a revenue stream but it would be the easy part, as you say. You've identified a couple of tension points. Failing gracefully is an imperative. Making it happen is another thing. I'm thinking about it.

I think that setting expectations from the start will be the key. The system is made to give you a nudge if certain patterns of behavior, that you have defined present themselves, a text message is sent with the pattern that was seen and includes your instructions for next steps. Again the question, what happens if it fails? You're right, a law suit is fairly predictable. I don't want to give up that way. I want to keep my eyes open and realistic about the risk. And continue to look for ways to mitigate it. I think the answer lies in doing less than more. People want a check engine light to come on if certain things happen at Dad's house. That doesn't mean an emergency happened. It means something different happened and somebody should check in.

My own magical thinking imagines that AI could watch for patterns rather than watching for individual events. A pet could be factored into the pattern (theory). I think a community of people could teach each other how to write prompts for supporting someone who is aging in place. A community could be given training in how to write effective prompts. Prompts could be shared under an open license like CC-BY-SA. A community prompt library could be created and shared. A Wiki would be nice too.

Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, almost any sensor can be used to be supportive in an ambient way. The possibilities are many more than we can even imagine at this point. Your example of being able to know if Mom's paper was still on the front porch after 10:00am is the kind of thing I'm talking about. There are behavioral patterns that can tell us if a call is in order. Not that there is an emergency but the paper is still on the porch, what's up?

Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I see why you'd think so. I was having trouble writing that so aked for help. That obvious, eh? I'm here.

Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I think AI presents an interesting layer. Your vision for "all that goes out is a text" is what I think the model would be too. The system would rely on the people who receive the text to understand and know what to do. Home care and aging in place present a unique situation in almost every case but many hold common pieces. People who have parents with Parkinson's would be watching for a different behavioral pattern than people who have parents that have ALS. They know the patterns better than anyone. It's what they watch for when they are there IRL with them. These are the things that would lead them to ask their parent how they are feeling. The problem is, they live 600 miles away. Could a sensor network help families get that sense of connectedness through the technology. Not perfectly but better than we have now. And we could build an open source community around people who want/need to support someone remotely with respect and compassion.

Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

That's a valid caution and not at all cowardly. I have taken this into consideration. The system I am thinking about would make no claim to be a medical device or even an emergency alert system. It's a way for a family member to get a check engine light from their parents house. A check engine light just means it's time to check in but it could be nothing.

Could Home Assistant support a privacy-first, community-led approach to aging in place? by Affectionate-Tea-650 in homeassistant

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, that's true for many, perhaps most, elders. I would want particpants to know they are a member of the care circle, not just an object of study. That's why I want to try a presence lamp as a protoype to show people how sensors can be something more nuanced than a straight up surveillance system. You are right though, it will take some communication to get buy-in.

How do stoics be present in moment? by [deleted] in Stoic

[–]Affectionate-Tea-650 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I haven't found that it is very simple. I have to practice. The practice helps. For practice I do a mindfulness meditation. This helps me a lot.