How Continuous Health Monitoring Improves Safety and Quality of Life in Senior Care

Rethinking Safety and Wellbeing in Assisted Living

Assisted living and long-term care (LTC) communities play a very importnat role in supporting older adults who value independence but may need extra assistance with health monitoring. Balancing safety, autonomy, and dignity is a daily challenge for caregivers and operators alike.

Falls, undetected respiratory issues, and delayed recognition of clinical decline remain among the most common and preventable risks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in four adults aged 65 or older reports a fall each year, and falls are still a leading cause of serious injury and death in this age group [1,2]. Many of these events happen at night or between routine checks, when staff are less likely to be present.

Traditional monitoring approaches — such as periodic vital-sign checks or in-room alarms — often provide only a partial picture of a resident’s wellbeing. They can miss subtle physiological changes that occur hours before a visible deterioration, and when alarms do sound, they can be intrusive or trigger unnecessary stress.

The growing demand for senior care services, combined with workforce shortages, makes early detection through continuous monitoring an increasingly important part of modern care strategies.

The Shift Toward Continuous, Resident-Centered Monitoring

Continuous health monitoring offers a way to support early intervention without compromising privacy or independence. It allows caregivers to recognize changes in vital signs — such as respiratory rate, heart rhythm, or oxygen saturation — before they become emergencies.

In many assisted living and LTC facilities, implementing such systems has already shown promising results. Evidence from various studies demonstrates that continuous or high-frequency monitoring can improve early detection, reduce hospital transfers, and enhance staff response times [3–7].

Importantly, this approach is not about constant supervision. It is about providing contextual insight that helps staff make informed decisions while residents continue their normal daily activities with minimal disruption.

Modern technologies like LoRaWAN® enable this by transmitting health data securely over long distances using minimal power. This means large campuses can be covered with only a few gateways, and devices can operate for extended periods without charging — creating an efficient and non-invasive safety network.

Why Continuous Monitoring Matters

Continuous monitoring provides real-time visibility into a resident’s physiological trends, which can help identify patterns of risk that traditional spot checks may overlook.

Below are some of the main ways this approach supports better care:

• Early detection of respiratory decline: Subtle changes in breathing rate or oxygen saturation often precede visible signs of illness. Continuous monitoring helps detect these earlier, supporting faster intervention [8,9].
• Post-hospital transitions: Residents returning from hospital stays or surgeries are particularly vulnerable. Studies have shown that continuous wearable monitoring can reduce ICU transfers and hospital readmissions in such cases [5–7].
• Standardized response systems: When integrated with early warning tools such as eNEWS/NEWS2, continuous monitoring ensures that changes in vital signs are evaluated consistently, helping staff act at the right time [3,4].

Together, these benefits translate into fewer emergencies, better recovery outcomes, and a more predictable workload for care staff. As we see, continuous monitoring is more than just data — it’s a foundation for safer, more responsive care delivery.

Turning Insight Into Action

A successful monitoring program relies not only on technology but also on how it is introduced and managed within the care environment. To make implementation smooth and effective, care teams can follow these key practices:

• Gradual onboarding: Explain to residents and families that continuous monitoring enhances comfort and safety, rather than limiting privacy.
• Smart alert configuration: Combine multiple vital-sign trends (for example, heart rate and SpO₂) to reduce false alarms and nighttime disturbances [6,7].
• Workflow integration: Feed data into existing care systems or dashboards to help prioritize residents who may need immediate attention.
• Family engagement: Offer optional notifications to reassure family members when health milestones or alerts occur.
• Ongoing optimization: Review alert patterns regularly and adjust thresholds to maintain the right balance between awareness and rest.

These practical steps ensure that continuous monitoring supports staff rather than overwhelming them, while preserving residents’ comfort and dignity.

Practical Examples: eBeat and eDoctor

As continuous monitoring becomes more common in senior care, devices like TEKTELIC’s eBeat and eDoctor demonstrate how this approach works in real-world settings.

Each device focuses on specific aspects of continuous monitoring to fit different resident needs:

eBeat

An arm-worn LoRaWAN® sensor that continuously records:

• Heart rate and rhythm (single-lead ECG)
• Oxygen saturation (SpO₂)
• Respiration rate
• Skin temperature

It offers lightweight comfort and freedom of movement while providing a constant stream of vital-sign data to caregivers through a secure monitoring dashboard [11].

eDoctor

A chest-worn LoRaWAN® monitor that measures:

• Respiratory rate and chest motion
• Body position and activity level
• Heart rate and temperature

This device is particularly useful for residents with chronic respiratory disease, opioid therapy, or sleep-related breathing issues — situations where respiratory compromise may develop silently [12].

Both devices integrate seamlessly within a LoRaWAN® network, allowing facilities to maintain continuous awareness with minimal infrastructure. This combination of reliability and simplicity makes LoRaWAN® a strong foundation for scalable healthcare monitoring.

Real Benefits Across the Care Ecosystem

The advantages of continuous health monitoring reach beyond residents — they positively affect families, caregivers, and facility management alike:

For Residents

• Early recognition of infection, oxygen decline, or irregular heart rhythms.
• Fewer unwitnessed events and faster assistance when issues arise.
• A sense of independence and safety during daily activities and rest.

For Families

• Reassurance that their loved ones are monitored continuously, with prompt intervention if risks appear.

For Staff and Operators

• Clear, data-driven insights to support clinical judgment.
• Improved efficiency and focus on residents who truly need attention.
• Potential reductions in hospital transfers and readmissions — metrics that directly affect quality outcomes in post-acute care [4–7].

Together, these outcomes show how resident-centered technology can strengthen care quality while supporting staff and families in creating safer living environments.

Building a Reliable Monitoring Program

For facilities considering implementation, a few key steps can ensure success. The following blueprint provides a structured path to getting started:

1. Identify target groups: Residents recently discharged from hospitals, those with COPD or OSA, or individuals with high fall or medication-related risks.
2. Select suitable devices: Use eBeat for heart and oxygen monitoring; combine with eDoctor for advanced respiratory and motion tracking [11,12].
3. Integrate alert systems: Route notifications to nurse stations or mobile devices, aligned with NEWS2 thresholds [3,4].
4. Refine thresholds: Calibrate over the first month to reduce unnecessary alerts and respect quiet hours [6,7].
5. Ensure coverage and reliability: Properly position LoRaWAN® gateways and schedule device maintenance to maintain uninterrupted operation.
6. Evaluate results: Track improvements in alert response times, avoided transfers, and resident comfort [1–9,10].

By following these steps, facilities can confidently introduce continuous monitoring and turn real-time insights into timely, meaningful action.

Conclusion

Continuous health monitoring represents one of the most impactful advancements for assisted living and LTC environments today. By shifting from reactive to proactive care, facilities can identify risks earlier, improve communication, and support a higher quality of life for residents.

With solutions like TEKTELIC’s eBeat and eDoctor, supported by reliable LoRaWAN® network infrastructure, healthcare providers can build connected, responsive, and dignified care environments where residents remain safe and independent — and caregivers stay empowered by insight, not overwhelmed by alerts.

Learn more about TEKTELIC’s healthcare monitoring solutions and how they can support safer, smarter care models at www.tektelic.com.

References

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Facts About Falls. May 9, 2024.

[2] World Health Organization. Falls – Key Facts. April 26, 2021.

[3] NIHR Evidence. NEWS2 patient score can predict worsening condition in care home residents. 2023.

[4] Hsu C-C et al. Evaluation of a Telemonitoring System Using Electronic National Early Warning Score for Integrated Home-Based Medical Care. JMIR Med Inform. 2024.

[5] Rowland BA et al. Impact of continuous and wireless monitoring of vital signs on clinical outcomes. Br J Anaesth. 2024.

[6] Khanna AK, Flick M, Saugel B. Continuous vital sign monitoring of patients recovering from surgery on general wards. Br J Anaesth. 2025.

[7] van Rossum L et al. Nurses’ experiences with in-hospital continuous monitoring of vital signs. PLOS Digit Health. 2025.

[8] Ruud WE et al. Continuous, contactless respiratory-rate monitoring on a hospital ward. Front Physiol. 2024.

[9] Aziz L et al. Wearable devices and remote health monitoring in non-hospital settings. PLOS Digit Health. 2025.

[10] Xie B et al. A decade of progress in wearable sensors for fall detection (2015–2024). Sensors. 2025.

[11] TEKTELIC. eBeat Arm Band — LoRaWAN® Device for Continuous Health Monitoring. Product Brief. 2024.

[12] TEKTELIC. eDoctor — Chest-Worn LoRaWAN® Health Monitor. User Guide v1.3 (UTD).