Pathways To Independence, a non-profit in Belleville, ON provides residential care for victims of traumatic brain injury or who suffer with congenital developmental disabilities. They live in residential group homes of 8 – 10 residents with 24-hour support provided by 2 employees. Management had identified that the need for two overnight attendants was due to residents waking up disoriented during the night and having difficulty both locating the restroom and wandering into each other’s’ rooms. If there were a system that could help orient and direct their residents, it might be possible to reduce overnight staffing at their 2 dozen homes with considerable cost savings.

Recognizing the potential market size, and knowing that our lighting technology was uniquely suited to this application, I began to work closely with Pathways to develop prototypes that were installed and tested in their assisted living homes. The final design had a sensor that detected when a resident left their bed. It then illuminated their door frame and a “Lited Pathway” showed the way to the restroom. Inside the restroom, a unique feature of the product provided adequate illumination without affecting night vision. Back in the hallway, the pathway guided the resident back to the door of their room.

Outcome: 

The system was successful. The goal of reducing overnight staff was met and life-safety features were incorporated into the design, making it a valuable aid in evacuating the residence in the event of a fire. When I arrived at E-Lite Technologies, the company literally had a “light bulb”, but no fixtures or applications. Capital was dedicated to primary manufacturing processes and not application development. For less than $10K, through creative engineering and persuading vendors to develop components on spec, I developed a market-ready product on a short timetable.