Skip to Content

College of Social Work

SmartHOME

The University of South Carolina’s SmartHOME Center is helping older adults remain healthy and independent by developing technologies that will enable them to remain at home with adequate support. This innovative center is one of the many SmartState centers at Carolina, designed to advance the quality of life for South Carolinians and the economy of our state.

As America’s senior population grows, new challenges to the nation’s physical and financial infrastructure are emerging. Demand is high for tools and technologies that facilitate safe aging in place.

The SmartHOME center supports a multidisciplinary approach to technology development by joining faculty from engineering, computer science and social work. Together, we are piloting solutions to improve seniors’ health and quality of life.

Current and recent projects include:

  • Health telemonitoring pilot program in Orangeburg for African-American patients with congestive heart failure following hospital discharge
  • Medication adherence pilot program for African-American patients with HIV/AIDS, in conjunction with Palmetto Health
  • Fall prevention sensor technology development

 

Areas of Focus

  • Telewellness and smart presence
  • Understanding the potential of smart presence to be use by continuous care retirement community employees
  • Needs assessment of telewellness technologies for older adults with disability
  • Assessing the usability of smart presence systems
  • Sensor-based remote monitoring system to prevent falls in older adults
  • Well-being monitoring of older adults using unobtrusive sensing methods
  • Coordinated telehealth care program for rural elders with congestive heart failure
  • Mobile telecare for underserved African-American elders with heart failure
  • Prevention of chronic disease: embodied conversational agents for informed cancer screen decisions
  • Prevention of chronic disease: prevention of HIV/AIDS and STDs in women over fifty
  • Management of chronic disease: medication adherence for HIV/AIDS
  • Management of chronic disease: self-directed online training program for Chinese dementia
  • Management of chronic disease: online community for Chinese dementia caregivers
  • Management of chronic disease: online community for Hispanic dementia caregivers

 


Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

©