Student invents smart clock to help elderly maintain independence

It took nearly two days for Kai Gould's grandfather, Brett, to be found after he had a serious fall at his farm west of Toowoomba.

The 20-year-old, from Queensland's Sunshine Coast, and his family were racked with guilt.

"We were all thinking, 'Oh, we should have called him. Why did none of us think to call him?" Mr Gould said.

"But then when we tried to call him, he hated it, didn't want us to talk to him every day — he likes to be by himself on the farm."

The university electrical engineering student decided to make something to help the 79-year-old maintain his independence, without feeling under constant supervision.

"We bought him a necklace, bought him a watch, he hated both of them," Mr Gould said.

Project ticking along

Mr Gould has invented a smart clock that can be used to connect older people with their families.

They can set notifications for specific times during the day, which makes the clock beep until a button is pressed.

An automatic text message is then sent to a nominated phone number.

"MedClock is essentially just an alarm clock that you put on your bench, on your kitchen countertop, anywhere that you'll be in the day and you will hear it," the student said.

Mr Gould's father, Chris, said the device not only provided peace of mind, it also helped improve their relationship with the grandfather.

"We found that the phone calls with him have been a lot more social and easier," Chris Gould said.

"When we look back, we really were just ringing him up and questioning about, 'Have you done this? Have you done that?'"

Clock strikes a chord

Mr Gould decided to create a few of the clocks out of his garage to see if they could help other families.

He took to social media earlier this month requesting feedback and received an overwhelming response.

"I've had over 8,000 likes, a thousand comments, over 100 people messaging me," he said.

"A few hospitals are interested. I'm in seven pharmacies at the moment."

A Sunshine Coast retirement village purchased 11 of the clocks to trial with its residents.

Investors have also been circling, but the student wanted to keep ownership of his product.

"Almost every time the first thing they [investors] want to do is lift the price, and it makes it way too unaffordable for elderly people,"

"I'm trying to keep the price down as low as I can, keep it as accessible to people as I can."

Changing times

Data obtained by the ABC in May revealed there were about 3,300 older Australians medically well but stranded in hospital beds on aged care waitlists — a figure that had surged by more than 35 per cent in less than a year.

Geoff Rowe, CEO of Aged and Disability Advocacy Australia, said people needed more support to live in their own homes for longer — and technology could help.

"We don't hear many older people saying, 'I want to go into residential aged care'," Mr Rowe said.

"People want to stay in their communities and have that sense of autonomy.

"Options like a smart watch or a pendant are dependent on people putting them on and wearing them, and it's very easy to hop out of the shower and forget to do that.

"The option that's been developed here [smart clock] is really useful for a particular cohort of older people … it's never a one-size-fits-all solution."

He commended Mr Gould on his invention.

"It's really encouraging to see young people looking out for their older family members and thinking about solutions," Mr Rowe said.

"Young people look at problems differently. They look at them with a fresh set of eyes, and I would love to see a world where we all look out for each other a bit more than what we currently do."