Wandering prevention for care homes

What is Healthcall wandering prevention?

Healthcall wandering prevention is an unauthorised-exit detection system for Belgian care homes. It combines Bluetooth Low Energy wristbands worn by the residents concerned — typically those with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia at risk of wandering — with beacons installed at strategic transit points: main exits, lifts, secured doors.

When a wristband-wearing resident crosses a critical point without authorised accompaniment, the system immediately triggers an alert on the terminal (smartphone or DECT) of the nearest carer, displays the precise location of the event on central supervision and, depending on configuration, temporarily locks the relevant door.

Healthcall has been equipping around twenty Belgian care homes of 30 to 150 beds since 2017, with an open architecture compatible with Blueup wristbands and equivalent BLE alternatives. Belgian hosting, high-availability private cluster.

For more: sister module — indoor resident geolocation · complete guide to AViQ regulation.

For the overall view: see the full Healthcall ecosystem diagram.

Four scenes observed in equipped care homes

The scenarios below describe recurring situations in care homes. The durations indicated are orders of magnitude in normal conditions. First names are fictional; scenes draw on actually observed mechanics.

Alzheimer’s resident exiting at night

2:47 am. Mrs J., resident of the protected unit, with moderate-stage Alzheimer’s, opens her room door and heads towards the floor’s main exit. She thinks she is going home. Her BLE wristband emits its signal. The beacon above the floor’s airlock captures it. The zone is critical at night, the resident is alone, no smartphone/DECT pairing nearby: critical alert. The terminal (smartphone or DECT) of the night carer rings in two seconds, displaying the resident’s first name and the crossed beacon. In parallel, the airlock door temporarily locks for 30 seconds. The carer arrives in 45 seconds, reassures Mrs J., walks her back to her room, closes the event with a voice action log. The next day, the head nurse adjusts night-time monitoring with the coordinating physician.

Newly admitted resident going to the garden

2:20 pm. Mr V., admitted three weeks ago, presents temporal disorientation but retains some autonomy. He leaves his armchair and heads to the enclosed garden. His wristband signals his passage via the beacon at the door leading to the garden. The garden being declared an authorised zone for his profile, no alert is triggered. He stays outside for twenty minutes, under the team’s indirect surveillance. On returning to the building, the return beacon is simply traced, with no action. The Quality Charter is respected: freedom of movement preserved within a secured perimeter, safety ensured by garden fencing and the wristband which would have alerted if the main gate had been crossed.

Crossing at reception, doubt cleared by the front desk

11:05 am. Mrs F., with advanced dementia, heads towards the reception hall while her family is not expected. Her wristband crosses the hall beacon. Critical alert. The front-desk staff terminal and the floor carer’s terminal ring simultaneously. The receptionist, already at the counter, can immediately engage in conversation with Mrs F. and cordially keep her there. The floor carer arrives in 40 seconds. Doubt clearance: the resident thought she had a medical appointment that she does not. She is walked to the common room, offered a diversion activity, event closed. The integration of wandering prevention and front-desk allows a two-level reaction, central for care homes with a hall opening onto the street.

False positive avoided by authorised zones

4:10 pm. Mr D., resident equipped with a wristband at his own request to reassure his family, moves freely through the ground-floor common areas. He passes in front of the central lift beacon. This beacon is declared non-critical for his profile: he has access to all floors and all common zones, he is fully oriented. No alert. Later in the afternoon, his daughter comes to pick him up for an outing. The carer temporarily suspends his wristband via the dashboard, with a traceable note. Mr D. and his daughter leave through the main door, the beacon detects him, but no alert is raised since the wristband is suspended. On return, the wristband is reactivated. No parasitic alert disturbed the teams.

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