Information Processing Apparatus, Information Processing System, Information Processing Program, and Control Method

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus configured to obtain information formed by associating change timing of rising / lying state of each cared person with action timing of a care staff, an information processing system, an information processing program, and a control method.SOLUTION: A control unit includes: a first acquisition unit which acquires rising / lying information on a rising / lying state of a cared person at each time; a second acquisition unit which acquires action information including information on a predetermined action and the time of the action of staff who cares the cared person; and an output unit which outputs the rising / lying information acquired by the first acquisition unit and the action information acquired by the second acquisition unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, an information processing program, and a control method. [Background technology]

[0002] Japan has seen a remarkable increase in life expectancy due to improvements in living standards, sanitary conditions, and medical standards that came with the rapid economic growth after the war. This, coupled with a declining birthrate, has led to an aging society with a high aging rate. In such an aging society, an increase in people requiring nursing care or care due to illness, injury, aging, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "care recipients") is expected. In facilities such as hospitals and elderly welfare facilities (hereinafter referred to simply as "facilities"), care is provided to care recipients by caregivers, nurses, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "care staff").

[0003] To improve the health and satisfaction of care recipients, facilities must ensure that each care recipient gets adequate sleep (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-371 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Therefore, it is desirable for care staff to provide care tailored to the state of a person in care so that the person can maintain good quality sleep. For example, facility managers and others can develop improvement measures to provide more appropriate care by understanding the relationship between the timing of changes in the state of a person in care and the timing of the care staff's actions.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing program, and a control method capable of obtaining information associating the timing of changes in the lying and rising states of individual care recipients with the timing of actions of care staff.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The above problems of the present invention are solved by the following means.

[0008] (1) An information processing apparatus comprising: a first acquisition unit that acquires lying and rising information regarding the lying and rising states of a care recipient at each time; a second acquisition unit that acquires action information including information regarding a predetermined action of a staff member who provides care to the care recipient and the time of the action; and an output unit that outputs the lying and rising information acquired by the first acquisition unit and the action information acquired by the second acquisition unit in association with each other.

[0009] (2) The information processing apparatus according to (1) above, wherein the lying and rising states of the care recipient include the lying state and the rising state of the care recipient.

[0010] (3) The information processing apparatus according to (1) or (2) above, wherein the action of the staff member includes entering the living room of the care recipient.

[0011] (4) The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (3) above, wherein the output unit outputs the lying and rising states of the care recipient for a time period including before and after the time of the action of the staff member.

[0012] (5) The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (4) above, further including an analysis unit that analyzes the relationship between the action of the staff member and the change in the lying and rising states of the care recipient based on the lying and rising information acquired by the first acquisition unit and the action information acquired by the second acquisition unit, and the output unit outputs the result analyzed by the analysis unit.

[0013] (6) The analysis unit is the information processing apparatus according to (5) above, which analyzes the relationship between the entry of the staff into the living room of the care recipient and the change of the care recipient from the bedridden state to the getting-up state.

[0014] (7) The analysis unit is the information processing apparatus according to (5) above, which analyzes the relationship between the getting-up assistance of the staff and the change of the care recipient from the bedridden state to the getting-up state.

[0015] (8) The first acquisition unit is the information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (7) above, which acquires the lying and getting-up information based on the information from the first detection unit that detects the lying and getting-up state of the care recipient.

[0016] (9) The second acquisition unit is the information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (8) above, which acquires the action information based on the information from the second detection unit that detects the action of the staff.

[0017] (10) An information processing system comprising the information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (9) above, a first detection unit that detects the lying and getting-up state of the care recipient, and a second detection unit that detects the action of the staff.

[0018] (11) An information processing program for causing a computer to execute a process including: step (a) of acquiring lying and getting-up information regarding the lying and getting-up state of a care recipient at each time; step (b) of acquiring action information including a predetermined action of a staff who provides care to the care recipient and information regarding the time of the action; and step (c) of associating and outputting the lying and getting-up information acquired in step (a) and the action information acquired in step (b).

[0019] (12) A method for controlling an information processing system, comprising: step (a) of obtaining lying-down information regarding the lying-down state of a care recipient at each time; step (b) of obtaining action information including predetermined actions of a staff member providing care to the care recipient and information regarding the times of these actions; and step (c) of associating and outputting the lying-down information obtained in step (a) and the action information obtained in step (b).

Advantages of the Invention

[0020] According to the present invention, lying-down information regarding the lying-down state of a care recipient at each time and action information including predetermined actions of a staff member and information regarding the times of these actions are associated and output. Therefore, it becomes possible to obtain information associating the timing of changes in the lying-down state of each care recipient with the timing of the actions of the care staff.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0022] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted. Also, the dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for the convenience of explanation and may differ from the actual ratios.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a monitoring system 1 (information processing system) according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a detection unit installed around the bed in the living room of a care recipient.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring system 1 includes a plurality of detection units 10, a management server 20, an information manager terminal 30, and one or more staff terminals 40. These are communicably connected to each other via a network 50 such as a LAN (Local Area Network), a telephone network, or a data communication network by wire or wirelessly. The network 50 may include a relay device such as a repeater, bridge, router, or cross-connect that relays communication signals. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the detection unit 10, the management server 20, the information manager terminal 30, and the staff terminal 40 are communicably connected to each other by a network 50 such as a wireless LAN including an access point 51 (for example, a LAN conforming to the IEEE802.11 standard).

[0025] The monitoring system 1 is disposed at an appropriate location according to the care recipient 70. The care recipient 70 is, for example, a patient who requires nursing due to illness, injury, etc., a care recipient who requires care due to a decline in physical ability due to old age, or a single elderly person living alone. In particular, from the viewpoint of enabling early detection and early response, the care recipient 70 can be a person who requires the detection when a predetermined inconvenient event such as an abnormal condition occurs to that person. For this reason, the monitoring system 1 is preferably disposed in buildings such as hospitals, elderly welfare facilities, and households according to the type of the care recipient 70. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring system 1 is disposed in a facility including a plurality of rooms (bedrooms) where a plurality of care recipients 70 live and a plurality of rooms including care stations.

[0026] The detection unit 10 is disposed in each bedroom which is an observation area of the care recipient 70. In the example shown in FIG. 1, four detection units 10 are respectively disposed in the bedrooms of Mr. A, Mr. B, Mr. C, and Mr. D who are care recipients 70. As shown in FIG. 2, the bed 60 is included in the observation area of the detection unit 10. The care staff 80 who provides care (nursing) such as nursing or care to the care recipient 70 each carry a staff terminal 40 which is a mobile terminal. However, the position, number, etc. of each component included in the monitoring system 1 are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1. For example, the management server 20 may not be disposed in the care station and may be an external server unit connected to the network 50.

[0027] In addition, care widely includes the care provided by the care staff 80 to the care recipient 70, and includes, for example, life assistance such as meals, water intake, excretion, bathing, cleaning, etc., and vital checks (measurement of body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, etc.).

[0028] (Detection unit 10) Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the detection unit. As shown in the figure, the detection unit 10 includes a control unit 11, a communication unit 12, a camera 13, a call button unit 14, a voice input / output unit 15, and a pause switch 16, which are interconnected by a bus. Here, the detection unit 10 corresponds to a specific example of the first detection unit and the second detection unit of the present invention.

[0029] The control unit 11 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memories such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and controls and performs arithmetic processing on each part of the detection unit 10 according to a program. Note that the control unit 11 may further include an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive) as a memory.

[0030] The communication unit 12 is an interface circuit (such as a LAN card) for communicating with other devices, such as a management server 20, an information manager terminal 30, or a staff terminal 40, via a network 50.

[0031] The camera 13 is arranged, for example, on the ceiling of the living room or the upper part of the wall, and photographs the bed 60 of the care recipient 70 directly below as an observation area, and outputs a photographed image (image data). This photographed image includes still images and moving images. The camera 13 is a near-infrared camera, but a visible light camera may be used instead, or these may be used in combination.

[0032] The control unit 11 recognizes the actions of the care recipient 70 from the photographed images taken by the camera 13. The recognized actions include the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70. The lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 includes, for example, a "lying in bed state" of sleeping in the bed 60, a "getting up state" of getting up from the bed 60, a "waking state" before the getting up state, and a "getting out of bed state" of leaving the bed 60. The actions recognized by the control unit 11 further include a "falling down" of falling to the floor surface, a "falling off" of falling from the bed 60 or a wheelchair, and a "leaving the room" of leaving the living room.

[0033] The control unit 11 detects the silhouette of an image (moving image) from a plurality of captured images (hereinafter referred to as "human silhouette"). The human silhouette can be detected, for example, by extracting a range of pixels with a relatively large difference by time difference that differentiates images with shooting times before and after. The human silhouette may be detected by a background difference method that differentiates the background image from the captured image. The recognition of getting up, getting out of bed, and falling is to recognize the difference between getting up, getting out of bed, and falling (toppling) from the posture of the care recipient 70 (such as standing, sitting, lying down, etc.) detected from the human silhouette and the relative position to the furnishings in the living room such as the bed 60. These recognitions may be performed by a program processed by the CPU of the control unit 11, or may be performed by an embedded processing circuit.

[0034] The getting-up and lying-down state of the care recipient 70 may be determined using sensors other than the camera 13, or may be determined by using this sensor in combination with the camera 13. For example, this sensor includes, for example, a body motion sensor, a sheet-like piezoelectric sensor disposed on (or inside) the mat of the bed 60, and a vibration detection sensor placed on the bed 60. As the vibration detection sensor, a smartphone equipped with an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor may be used. Further, the detection unit 10 may not include the camera 13, and the getting-up and lying-down state may be determined as follows only by this body motion sensor.

[0035] For example, this body motion sensor is a Doppler shift sensor that transmits and receives microwaves to and from the bed 60 and detects the Doppler shift of microwaves caused by body motion (e.g., breathing) of the care recipient 70. When the care recipient 70 is lying down, small, subtle movements are observed. For this reason, to detect whether the care recipient 70 is lying down or up, two thresholds, one large and one small, are set for the magnitude of the movement. If the magnitude of the movement exceeds the first threshold, the care recipient 70 is judged to be in an "awake" or "awake" state; if the magnitude of the movement falls below the second threshold, the care recipient 70 is judged to be out of bed; and if the magnitude is equal to or less than the first threshold but equal to or greater than the second threshold, the care recipient 70 is judged to be in a "lying down" state. This body motion sensor can also be used to detect abnormalities. For example, the sensor detects chest movement (up and down movement of the chest) associated with the care recipient 70's breathing, and if the sensor detects a disruption in the period of the chest movement or an amplitude of the chest movement below a predetermined threshold, the sensor recognizes the abnormality as a slight body movement.

[0036] By using these body movement sensors, piezoelectric sensors, or vibration detection sensors in conjunction with or instead of the camera 13, the lying-down state (out of bed, lying down, awake, awake) of the care recipient 70 can be determined.

[0037] In this embodiment, an event refers to a change in the state of the care recipient 70 recognized by the detection unit 10, which should be reported (notified) to the care staff 80, such as getting up, getting out of bed, falling, dropping, leaving the room, and abnormal slight body movement. This event also includes a care call made by the care call unit 14. That is, the detection unit 10 may detect a care call made by the care recipient 70 as a movement of the care recipient 70 in the observation area. The detection unit 10 transmits information about the event that has occurred to the management server 20.

[0038] Here, the content of the response to each event will be described when the care staff 80's work is to care for the care recipient 70. When the detection unit 10 determines that the event is "wake-up," and if the determination is within a predetermined time (the wake-up time set by the facility (e.g., 7:00 to 8:00 AM)), the care staff 80 provides morning care (assistance in getting up) to the care recipient 70. This morning care includes assistance with washing the face, brushing teeth, putting on dentures, and getting changed. In addition, for the event of "getting out of bed," assistance with transferring to a wheelchair and walking may be required. Furthermore, periodic (fixed-time) events other than those determined by the detection unit 10 include assistance with drinking and eating, assistance with toileting, assistance with transferring to a wheelchair, assistance with walking, and positioning (to prevent bedsores). For these periodic events, an alert may be generated by the care call unit 14 or the like at the fixed time.

[0039] The care call unit 14 includes a push-button switch, and detects a care call (nurse call) when the care recipient 70 presses the switch. Instead of a push-button switch, a care call may be detected by an audio microphone. When the switch of the care call unit 14 is pressed, i.e., when a care call is detected, the control unit 11 transmits a notification that a care call has been made to the management server 20, etc., via the communication unit 12 and the network 50.

[0040] The audio input / output unit 15 is, for example, a speaker and a microphone, and enables audio communication by transmitting and receiving audio signals to and from the information manager terminal 30 via the communication unit 12. The audio input / output unit 15 may be connected to the detection unit 10 via the communication unit 12 as an external device of the detection unit 10.

[0041] The pause switch 16 is arranged, for example, near the entrance of the living room. This pause switch 16 includes, for example, a push-button type switch. When the care staff 80 or the like enters the living room, by operating this switch, the determination of events by the detection unit 10 is temporarily stopped. The determination of events by the detection unit 10 is resumed, for example, when the pause switch 16 is operated again. The determination of events by the detection unit 10 may be automatically resumed after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0042] Instead of the push-button type switch, or together with the push-button type switch, an NFC (Near Field Communication) type sensor such as FeliCa (registered trademark) may be used for the pause switch 16. In this pause switch 16, for example, when the care staff 80 holds the IC card in front of the reading terminal arranged at the entrance of the living room, the switch is turned on / off.

[0043] (Management server 20) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the management server 20. The management server 20 has a control unit 21, a communication unit 22, and a database 23, and functions as an information processing device. This management server 20 may be provided in the same building as the living room for the care recipient 70, or may be provided at a remote location and be connectable via a network. For example, the management server 20 may be a cloud server virtually constructed by a plurality of servers arranged on a network such as the Internet. Each component is communicably connected to each other via a bus.

[0044] The control unit 21 has a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, etc., similar to the control unit 11 of the detection unit 10. The functions of the control unit 21 will be described later.

[0045] The communication unit 22 functions as a notification unit that notifies the information manager terminal 30 or the staff terminal 40 of events. Further, the communication unit 22 acquires status information from the detection unit 10 and the like. This communication unit 22 is an interface for various local connections such as a network interface for wired communication according to a standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or a wireless communication interface according to a standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and IEEE 802.11, and communicates with each terminal connected to the network 50.

[0046] The database 23 functions as a storage unit and stores an event list, information about the care recipient 70, information about the care staff 80, and care records and the like.

[0047] The event list includes information about various events including predetermined events (for example, events such as falls and topples) that may lead to an accident of the care recipient 70. Information about the care recipient 70 includes, for example, information such as the name, date of birth, ID number, room number, usual amount of food intake, amount of fluid intake other than food, past medical history, degree of care need, and current hospital visit status of the care recipient 70. Information about the care staff 80 includes, for example, information such as the name, staff ID, date of birth, number of consecutive years of service (career years), and skill level related to care of the care staff 80.

[0048] The care record is a document that records information about the care provided to the care recipient 70 in the facility. For example, the care staff 80 provides various types of life assistance such as meals, fluid intake, excretion, bathing, cleaning, etc., and vital checks (measurement of body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, etc.) to the care recipient 70 based on the care plan prepared for each care recipient 70. The care such as assistance and vital checks provided by the care staff 80 to the care recipient 70, and the actions and conditions of the care recipient 70 are recorded in the care record. The care record is updated when information about the care for the care recipient 70 is input by the care staff 80. The input of the care record is performed, for example, through the input unit 44 of the staff terminal 40.

[0049] The management server 20, either alone or in cooperation with the detection unit 10, determines (identifies) which care recipient 70 the events such as getting up, getting out of bed, falling, and care call detected by the detection unit 10 are related to. This determination is made by determining the care recipient 70 (i.e., the occupant of the room) associated with the room number where the detection unit 10 that detected the event is installed. Then, the type of the determined event is associated with the care recipient 70 and added to the event list in the database 23. In this embodiment, when the care recipient 70 carries an IC tag, the care recipient 70 may be determined by reading this IC tag with an RFID reader provided in each room. When there are multiple care recipients 70 in one room, such as in adjacent rooms, the care recipient 70 may be determined by arranging the detection unit 10 for each bed 60.

[0050] (Information manager terminal 30) FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the information manager terminal 30. The information manager terminal 30 is a so-called PC (Personal Computer), and includes a control unit 31, a communication unit 32, a display unit 33, an input unit 34, and an audio input / output unit 35, which are interconnected by a bus. The control unit 31 has a configuration similar to that of the control unit 11 of the detection unit 10 and includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, etc.

[0051] The communication unit 32 is an interface for various local connections such as a network interface for wired communication according to a standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and a wireless communication interface according to a standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and IEEE802.11, and communicates with each terminal connected to the network 50.

[0052] The display unit 33 is, for example, a liquid crystal display and displays various information. The display unit 33 displays, for example, the captured image by the detection unit 10.

[0053] The input unit 34 includes a keyboard, a numeric keypad, a mouse, etc., and inputs various information.

[0054] The audio input / output unit 35 is, for example, a headset equipped with a speaker and a microphone.

[0055] The information manager terminal 30 is used, for example, as a terminal for the information manager 90, displays various information within the facility to the information manager 90, and receives instructions. Also, by transmitting and receiving audio signals to and from the detection unit 10 or the staff terminal 40 via the communication unit 32, it enables voice calls with the care staff 80 and the like. Here, the information manager 90 is a manager who supervises a plurality of care staff 80. The information manager 90 may comprehensively manage the care staff 80 working not only in one facility but also in multiple facilities.

[0056] Also, the care staff 80 or technical staff, etc., through the information manager terminal 30, when the detection unit 10 is installed in each room (living room), associate the room number with the detection unit 10, or calibrate and specify the position information of the furnishings in the living room such as the bed 60, that is, the overhead contour information by the ceiling camera 13. Also, associate the identification information such as the name and ID number of the care recipient 70 who is hospitalized or residing with each room number.

[0057] (Staff terminal 40) FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the staff terminal 40. The staff terminal 40 includes a control unit 41, a wireless communication unit 42, a display unit 43, an input unit 44, and an audio input / output unit 45, which are interconnected by a bus.

[0058] The control unit 41 has a configuration similar to that of the control unit 11 of the detection unit 10 and includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like.

[0059] The wireless communication unit 42 enables wireless communication using standards such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (registered trademark), and performs wireless communication with each device via the access point 51 or directly.

[0060] The display unit 43 and the input unit 44 are touch panels, and a touch sensor serving as the input unit 44 is superimposed on the display surface of the display unit 43, which is composed of a liquid crystal display or the like. The display unit 43 and the input unit 44 display various operation screens for the care staff 80, displaying a list of multiple events included in the event list, and accept various operations via the operation screens. The display unit 43 also displays the behavioral details of the care recipient 70 and the notification content notified by the communication unit 22 of the management server 20. When the detection unit 10 detects an event of the care recipient 70, event information related to this event is notified to the staff terminal 40 via the management server 20. The event information may be notified to the staff terminals 40 of all care staff 80, or may be notified to the staff terminals 40 of care staff 80 belonging to a specific group. Furthermore, when the care staff 80 provides care to the care recipient 70, the care staff 80 inputs information related to the care provided to the care recipient 70 into the care record via the input unit 44.

[0061] The audio input / output unit 45 is, for example, a speaker and a microphone, and enables the care staff 80 to make voice calls to other staff terminals 40 via the wireless communication unit 42. The staff terminal 40 is a device that functions as a user interface for the monitoring system 1, and can be configured as a portable communication terminal device such as a tablet computer, smartphone, or mobile phone.

[0062] At the start of work, the care staff 80 performs login authentication processing via the assigned staff terminal 40. The care staff 80 inputs a staff ID and password via the touch panel (display unit 43, input unit 44) of the staff terminal 40 and sends them to the management server 20. The management server 20 compares the authentication information stored in the database 23 and sends an authentication result according to the authority of the care staff 80 to the staff terminal 40, thereby completing the login authentication.

[0063] The staff terminal 40 also has a function to identify the location of the staff terminal 40 using a global positioning system (GPS), Bluetooth, etc. This allows the management server 20 to identify the location of the care staff member 80 carrying the staff terminal 40.

[0064] The detection unit 10, management server 20, information manager terminal 30, and staff terminal 40 may include components other than those described above, or may not include some of the components described above.

[0065] (Function of control unit 21) Here, the function of the control unit 21 of the management server 20 will be described.

[0066] 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the functions of the control unit 21. The control unit 21 functions as a first acquisition unit 211, a second acquisition unit 212, and an output unit 213, for example, when the CPU executes an information processing program.

[0067] The first acquisition unit 211 acquires lying-down information relating to the lying-down state of the care recipient 70 at each time. The lying-down state of the care recipient 70 mainly includes the sleeping state (asleep state) and the awake state of the care recipient 70, and does not necessarily include the state in which the care recipient 70 is lying awake on the bed 60 and the state in which the care recipient 70 is sitting up on the bed 60. It is preferable that the lying-down state of the care recipient 70 includes the sleeping state and the awake state of the care recipient 70 from the viewpoint of formulating improvement measures for providing appropriate care. The lying-down state of the care recipient 70 includes, for example, the lying-down state (asleep state), the awake state, the awake state, and the out-of-bed state of the care recipient 70. The lying-down information is acquired, for example, every several tens of seconds to every few minutes. The first acquisition unit 211 acquires the lying-down information from, for example, the detection unit 10 via the communication unit 22.

[0068] Figures 8(A) and 8(B) show an example of the lying and getting up information acquired by the first acquisition unit 211. Figure 8(A) shows the lying and getting up information of the care recipient A in Room 201, and Figure 8(B) shows the lying and getting up information of the care recipient B in Room 206. From the lying and getting up information shown in Figure 8(A), it can be seen that the care recipient A was in a lying state at 22:34:56 on May 1, got up at 23:32:09 on May 1, and got out of bed at 23:33:34 on May 1. From the lying and getting up information shown in Figure 8(B), it can be seen that the care recipient B was in a lying state at 21:45:46 on May 1, got up at 00:20:22 on May 2, and got out of bed at 00:20:53 on May 2.

[0069] The second acquisition unit 212 acquires action information including the predetermined actions of the care staff 80 and information regarding the times of these predetermined actions. The predetermined actions include, for example, the entry of the care staff 80 into the living room of the care recipient 70, and the time of this action is, for example, the entry time into the living room. The control unit 21 determines that the care staff 80 has entered the living room of the care recipient 70, for example, when it is detected by the detection unit 10 that there are a plurality of people present in the living room of the care recipient 70. The presence of a plurality of people in the living room is detected, for example, based on the captured image of the camera 13 of the detection unit 10. The control unit 21 may also determine that the care staff 80 has entered the living room of the care recipient 70 when the temporary stop switch 16 of the detection unit 10 is operated. The predetermined actions may include getting up assistance for the care recipient 70, and the time of this action is, for example, the start time of the getting up assistance. The time of the getting up assistance may be the entry time of the care staff 80 into the living room for the getting up assistance. The second acquisition unit 212 acquires the action information from, for example, the detection unit 10.

[0070] Figure 9 shows an example of the action information acquired by the second acquisition unit 212. For example, the action information shown in Figure 9 indicates that at 23:30:12 on May 1, for the night patrol, the care staff X entered Room 201, and at 00:15:00 on May 2, for the night patrol, the care staff Y entered Room 206.

[0071] The output unit 213 outputs by associating the lying / sitting information acquired by the first acquisition unit 211 and the behavior information acquired by the second acquisition unit 212. For example, the output unit 213 outputs the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 for a time period including the time before and after the time of a predetermined behavior of the care staff 80. For example, the output unit 213 outputs the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 for about 5 to 10 minutes before and after the time of a predetermined behavior of the care staff 80.

[0072] FIG. 10 shows an example of the information output by the output unit 213. From FIG. 10, it can be seen that about 2 minutes after the care staff X entered room 201 at 23:30:12 on May 1st, the care recipient A in room 201 got up, and about 5 minutes after the care staff Y entered room 206 at 00:15:00 on May 2nd, the care recipient B in room 206 got up. In the facility, from the information output by the output unit 213 in this way, it can be grasped that there is a possibility that the care recipient 70 is awake or has gotten up due to the night patrol of the care staff 80 during this time period.

[0073] (Information Processing Method) Next, with reference to FIG. 11, an outline of the processing procedure of the information processing method of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the processing procedure of the control method of the present embodiment. The processing of the flowchart in the figure is realized, for example, when the CPU of the control unit 21 executes an information processing program.

[0074] The control unit 21 first acquires the lying / sitting information of each care recipient 70 (step S101). The control unit 21 acquires the lying / sitting information from the detection unit 10, for example. This lying / sitting information includes information regarding the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 at each time. The acquired lying / sitting information is stored in the RAM of the control unit 21, for example.

[0075] Next, the control unit 21 acquires the action information of the care staff 80 (step S102). For example, the control unit 21 acquires the action information from the detection unit 10. This action information includes information regarding a predetermined action of the care staff 80 and the start time of this action. The acquired action information is stored, for example, in the RAM of the control unit 21. Steps S101 and S102 may be in the reverse order or may be performed simultaneously.

[0076] Next, the control unit 21 associates and outputs the lying / sitting information acquired in step S101 and the action information acquired in step S102 (step S103), and ends the process. The information associating the lying / sitting information and the action information is stored, for example, in the RAM of the control unit 21.

[0077] (Function and effect of the monitoring system) In the monitoring system 1 (management server 20) of the present embodiment, the lying / sitting information regarding the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 at each time and the action information including information regarding a predetermined action of the care staff 80 and the time of this action are associated and output. Therefore, it becomes possible to obtain information associating the timing of the change in the lying / sitting state of each care recipient 70 and the timing of the action of the care staff 80. As a result, in the facility, since the relationship between the timing of the change in the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 and the timing of the action of the care staff 80 can be grasped, it becomes possible to formulate improvement measures for providing more appropriate care.

[0078] For example, when the monitoring system does not output information associating the timing of the change in the lying / sitting state of the care recipient and the timing of the action of the care staff, it becomes difficult to provide care in accordance with the timing of the care recipient's lying down and getting up. For example, even if the care recipient wakes up due to the care staff entering the living room at night, it is difficult to identify this causal relationship and formulate effective improvement measures.

[0079] In contrast, in the monitoring system 1, the lying / sitting information regarding the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 at each time is associated with the action information including the predetermined actions of the care staff 80 and the information regarding the times of these actions, and then output. Therefore, the facility administrator or the like can easily grasp the relationship between the timing of the change in the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 and the timing of the actions of the care staff 80, and can formulate improvement measures for providing more appropriate care. For example, the facility administrator or the like can identify the awakening (or getting up) of the care recipient 70 caused by the entry of the care staff 80 at night based on the information output from the monitoring system 1. By analyzing such cases of awakening, for example, it is possible to grasp the time zones when the care recipient 70 is likely to wake up and tendencies such as those of the care staff 80. Therefore, it becomes possible to formulate effective improvement measures for providing more appropriate care in accordance with the change in the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70.

[0080] As described above, according to the monitoring system 1 (management server 20) of the present embodiment, the lying / sitting information regarding the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 at each time is associated with the action information including the predetermined actions of the care staff 80 and the information regarding the times of these actions, and then output. Therefore, it is possible to output information associating the timing of the change in the lying / sitting state of each care recipient 70 with the timing of the actions of the care staff 80.

[0081] <Modification Example> In the above embodiment, an example in which the control unit 21 functions as the first acquisition unit 211, the second acquisition unit 212, and the output unit 213 has been described. However, the control unit 21 may further have other functions. In the following modification example, an example in which the control unit 21 further functions as an analysis unit (analysis unit 214 in FIG. 12 described later) will be described.

[0082] FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of the functions of the control unit 21 according to a modified example of the above embodiment. The control unit 21 of this modified example functions as a first acquisition unit 211, a second acquisition unit 212, an analysis unit 214, and an output unit 213, for example, when a CPU executes an information processing program. The first acquisition unit 211 and the second acquisition unit 212 function in the same manner as described in the above embodiment.

[0083] Based on the lying / sitting information acquired by the first acquisition unit 211 and the action information acquired by the second acquisition unit 212, the analysis unit 214 analyzes the relationship between a predetermined action of the care staff 80 and the change in the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70. For example, the analysis unit 214 analyzes the relationship between the entry of the care staff 80 into the room of the care recipient 70 and the change of the care recipient 70 from the lying state to the getting-up state, and identifies the awakening or getting-up of the care recipient 70 caused by the entry of the care staff 80. The analysis unit 214 may analyze the relationship between the getting-up assistance by the care staff 80 and the change of the care recipient 70 from the lying state to the getting-up state, and identify the awakening or getting-up of the care recipient 70 caused by the getting-up assistance of the care staff 80.

[0084] The output unit 213 outputs the analysis result analyzed by the analysis unit 214.

[0085] FIG. 13 shows an example of the analysis result output by the output unit 213. The horizontal axis in FIG. 13 represents time, and the vertical axis represents the number of awakenings of the care recipient 70 caused by the entry of the care staff 80. The care staff 80 conducts night rounds at 21:00, 22:00, 2:00, and 4:00. The analysis unit 214, for example, identifies an awakening caused by the entry of the care staff 80 when the care recipient 70 awakens or gets up within a predetermined time after the time when the care staff 80 enters the room of the care recipient 70. In the facility, from the result output by this output unit 213, for example, it can be grasped that the care recipient 70 is likely to awaken during the night rounds at 22:00 and 2:00, so it is possible to formulate improvement measures such as reducing the night rounds at 22:00 and 2:00.

[0086] FIG. 14 shows another example of the analysis result output by the output unit 213. In FIG. 14, for each care recipient 70, the waking-up time of natural waking-up and the waking-up time due to the waking-up assistance of the care staff 80 are represented by box plots. The analysis unit 214, for example, identifies the case where the detection time of "waking up" immediately before the waking-up assistance is after the entry time of the care staff 80 and they are within a predetermined time as waking up due to the waking-up assistance of the care staff 80, and identifies other cases as natural waking-up. In the facility, for example, from FIG. 14, it can be confirmed that for the care recipient Mr. G in Room 311, etc., the waking-up time due to the waking-up assistance of the care staff 80 tends to be earlier than the waking-up time of natural waking-up. Thereby, the facility administrator, etc. can establish improvement measures such as delaying the waking-up assistance time zone for the care recipient Mr. G in Room 311, etc. The output unit 213 may output the number of times of natural waking-up and the number of times of waking-up due to the waking-up assistance of the care staff 80 for each care recipient 70.

[0087] FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the control method of the control unit 21 of this modified example.

[0088] The control unit 21 first acquires the getting-up and lying-down information and the behavior information in the same manner as steps S101 and S102 described in the above embodiment (steps S201, S202).

[0089] Next, the control unit 21 analyzes the relationship between a predetermined behavior of the care staff 80 and the change in the getting-up and lying-down state of the care recipient 70 based on the getting-up and lying-down information and the behavior information acquired in steps S201 and S202 (step S203).

[0090] After this, the control unit 21 outputs the result analyzed in step S203 (step S204) and ends the process.

[0091] In this way, the control unit 21 may function as the analysis unit 214. Thereby, it becomes easier for the facility administrator, etc. to grasp the relationship between the timing of the change in the getting-up and lying-down state of the care recipient 70 and the timing of the behavior of the care staff 80.

[0092] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

[0093] For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the output unit 213 outputs the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70 for a time period before and after the start time of a predetermined action of the care staff 80 has been described. However, the output unit 213 may output the history of a predetermined action of the care staff 80 for a time period before and after a change in the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70. Alternatively, the output unit 213 may output, for all time periods, the lying / sitting information and the action information in association with each other regardless of the presence or absence of a predetermined action of the care staff 80 and a change in the lying / sitting state of the care recipient 70.

[0094] In the above-described embodiment, an example in which a predetermined action of the care staff 80 is entering the living room of the care recipient 70 has been described. However, the predetermined action of the care staff 80 may be other actions, for example, getting-up assistance or the like.

[0095] In the above-described embodiment, the case where the management server 20 functions as an information processing apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a case, and the information manager terminal 30 may be configured to function as an information processing apparatus. Further, the detection unit 10 may be configured to function as an information processing apparatus by the CPU of the control unit 11 of the detection unit 10 executing an information processing program.

[0096] In addition, the processing units in the flowcharts in the above-described embodiments are divided according to the main processing contents in order to facilitate the understanding of each process. The present invention of the present application is not limited by the way of classifying the processing steps. Each process can be further divided into more processing steps. Further, one processing step may execute more processes.

[0097] The information processing program may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a USB memory, a flexible disk, or a CD-ROM, or may be provided online via a network such as the Internet. In this case, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is typically transferred and stored in a memory or storage device. The information processing program may be provided as standalone application software, or may be incorporated into the software of each device as a function of the server.

[0098] In addition, in the embodiments, part or all of the processing executed by the program may be replaced with hardware such as a circuit. [Explanation of symbols]

[0099] 1. Monitoring system, 10 detection unit, 11 control section, 12 Communications Department, 13 cameras, 14 Care Call Department, 15 audio input unit, 16 pause switch, 20 Management Server, 21 control section, 211 1st Acquisition Department; 212 Second Acquisition Department, 213 output section, 214 Analysis Department, 22 Communications Department, 23 databases, 30 Information manager terminal, 40 staff terminals, 41 control section, 42 Radio Communication Department, 43 Display section, 44 input section, 45 Audio input / output unit, 50 networks, 51 access points, 60 beds, 70 care recipients, 80 care staff.

Claims

1. A first acquisition unit that acquires lying and rising information regarding the lying and rising state of the care recipient at each time; A second acquisition unit that acquires action information including information regarding a predetermined action of a staff member who provides care to the care recipient and the time of the action; An output unit that associates and outputs the lying and rising information acquired by the first acquisition unit and the action information acquired by the second acquisition unit; An analysis unit that analyzes the relationship between the action of the staff member and the change in the lying and rising state of the care recipient based on the lying and rising information acquired by the first acquisition unit and the action information acquired by the second acquisition unit; Comprising; The output unit outputs the result analyzed by the analysis unit, an information processing apparatus.

2. The analysis unit according to claim 1, wherein the analysis unit analyzes the relationship between the entry of the staff member into the living room of the care recipient and the change from the lying state to the rising state of the care recipient.

3. The analysis unit according to claim 1, wherein the analysis unit analyzes the relationship between the rising assistance by the staff member and the change from the lying state to the rising state of the care recipient.

4. The lying and rising state of the care recipient according to any one of claims 1 to 3 includes the lying state and the rising state of the care recipient. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The action of the staff member according to any one of claims 1 to 4 includes entry into the living room of the care recipient. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The output unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5 outputs the lying and rising state of the care recipient for a time period including before and after the time of the action of the staff member. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The first acquisition unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6 acquires the lying and rising information based on information from a first detection unit that detects the lying and rising state of the care recipient. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The second acquisition unit according to any one of claims 1 to 7 acquires the action information based on information from a second detection unit that detects the action of the staff member. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, A first detection unit that detects the lying and rising state of the care recipient, A second detection unit that detects the action of the staff member, Comprising an information processing system.

10. A step (a) of acquiring lying and rising information regarding the lying and rising state of the care recipient at each time; Step (b) of obtaining action information including predetermined actions of the staff caring for the care recipient and information on the times of said actions; Step (c) of associating and outputting the getting-up and lying-down information obtained in step (a) and the action information obtained in step (b); Step (d) of analyzing the relationship between the actions of the staff and the changes in the getting-up and lying-down state of the care recipient based on the getting-up and lying-down information obtained in step (a) and the action information obtained in step (b); comprising; An information processing program for causing a computer to execute a process of outputting the result analyzed in step (d) in step (c).

11. Step (a) of obtaining getting-up and lying-down information regarding the getting-up and lying-down state of the care recipient at each time; Step (b) of obtaining action information including predetermined actions of the staff caring for the care recipient and information on the times of said actions; Step (c) of associating and outputting the getting-up and lying-down information obtained in step (a) and the action information obtained in step (b); Step (d) of analyzing the relationship between the actions of the staff and the changes in the getting-up and lying-down state of the care recipient based on the getting-up and lying-down information obtained in step (a) and the action information obtained in step (b); comprising; A control method executed by an information processing system, wherein in step (c), the result analyzed in step (d) is output.

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