Heatwave watch: Smart tech helps keep Rome’s elderly safe

ROME – Dina Gazzella, an 85-year-old Roman widow, no longer has any company at home since losing her husband in 2023, and her cat a year later.

But thanks to smart technology, she is not alone.

A team of social workers is keeping tabs on her remotely, through an electronic bracelet that monitors her heart rate, sleep patterns and allows her to call for help in an emergency.

The device is part of a €400 million (S$589.7 million) support scheme for the elderly, introduced in 2025 by Rome's municipality with EU post-Covid-19 funding, currently covering around 700 people.

The local authorities are hailing the device as a key health prevention tool, especially in the midst of the ongoing deadly heatwave in Europe, which has seen Rome temperatures climb to the upper 30s deg C.

“The bracelet is crucial for elderly people in this hot period, especially because their blood pressure drops, their heart rate is slightly lower than normal, they really suffer,” clinical psychologist Piera Pomente said.

The black plastic bracelet, worn like a watch, includes motion sensors that can detect accidental falls while constantly tracking Gazzella’s movements – in and outside her house in the eastern outskirts of the Italian capital.

“If I feel unwell, this is a lifesaver,” Gazzella told Reuters.

The octogenarian looked sprightly as she pottered around her flat, showing pictures of her grandchildren, preparing espresso coffee and raving about her previous day’s visit to a World War II bunker with a local community group.

She said the bracelet gave her peace of mind.

“They convinced me (to get it) because they told me it was necessary, because I’m alone in the house and if something happens, if I fall, no one will pick me up; instead this one beeps, and someone will come.”

Piera Pomente, coordinator of the support desk for the scheme at a local pharmacy, checking the bracelet worn by Dina Gazzella. PHOTO: REUTERS

Psychologist Pomente coordinates a support desk for the bracelet scheme at the local pharmacy, where she and her team process applications to join and monitor subscribers’ data through a computer screen.

The bracelet is free, but some have reservations due to privacy concerns. Out of 70 people who initially joined at the pharmacy, only about 45 have stayed on, Pomente said, adding that she hoped to win them back.

“It’s not like we spy inside their homes with cameras”, she said.

Her team operates from Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 7pm, while on weekends and at night-time notifications from the bracelets are sent to relatives, via a mobile app.

Over the past year, Pomente experienced two emergencies – a man who fell on the street and another one who slipped off his wheelchair at home – and both were resolved by alerting relatives who came to the rescue.

On regular days, it is more about chit-chatting.

As part of the service offered by the municipality, social workers call daily to check that people have taken their medicines, to ask them if they are coping with the heat, or just offer them a friendly ear if they feel bored or lonely.

“It’s about helping them share their day, their emotions, and the excessive heat,” Pomente said. REUTERS