# Monitoring the Health and Residence Conditions of Elderly People, Using LoRa and The Things Network
## 6 Conclusions  
This article addresses an area of application that is very relevant to society, considering the vast potential underlying long-range telecommunications equipment and devices (LoRa) that we currently have available on the market at a low cost. The widespread use of IoT has gained enormous potentiality in monitoring older adults and their homes, particularly with sensors that may detect floods, gas leakage, excess carbon monoxide, and fire, to name but a few. In housing, actuators may be incorporated that will trigger specific actions, such as cutting off gas, cutting off water and electricity supply, and the release of fire-retardant chemicals. Using the system here proposed, isolated inhabitants, primarily the elderly, can move freely around the outer spaces of their homes without feeling constrained in their privacy. In addition, a rescue mechanism may be triggered to inform support entities, family, or friends, who will have access to the GPS coordinates of their recent location in case they suffer some accident, fall, or change of vital signs. All calibration parameters and tolerances, including false positive and false negative occurrences, must be very well-validated to make the system efficient and practical, avoiding eventual unnecessary alerts and emergency calls that may misuse resources.  
Another essential factor to be considered in the proposed system, which has not yet been used, is the possibility to integrate the technology installed in some remote regions. Local people increasingly use technology for wind energy production and clean energy with negative effects, such as the noise produced and interference in television reception signals, but whose value should be understood to be an asset.  
To guarantee compliance with all ethical and data protection principles, the objectives of the system and its operation will be communicated to the National Data Protection Commission. Authorization to collect anonymous data will be requested for statistical purposes only, namely for academic and scientific research work.  
**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, methodology, software and hardware assembly, J.P.L.; visualization, validation, S.A.; writing--review and editing, J.P.L., S.A., I.M.P. and E.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
**Funding:** This work is funded by FCT/MEC through national funds and co-funded by FEDER--PT2020 partnership agreement under the project **UIDB/50008/2020**. This work is also funded by National Funds through the FCT--Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project **UIDB/00742/2020**. This work is also funded by National Funds through the FCT--Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project **UIDB/05583/2020**.  
**Acknowledgments:** This work is funded by FCT/MEC through national funds and co-funded by FEDER--PT2020 partnership agreement under the project **UIDB/50008/2020**. This work is also funded by National Funds through the FCT--Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project **UIDB/00742/2020**. This work is also funded by National Funds through the FCT--Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project **UIDB/05583/2020**. This article is based upon work from COST Action IC1303-AAPELE-Architectures, Algorithms and Protocols for Enhanced Living Environments and COST Action CA16226-SHELD-ON--Indoor living space improvement: Smart Habitat for the Elderly, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). More information is Available online www.cost.eu (accessed on 1 July 2021). Furthermore, we would like to thank the Research Centre in Digital Services (CISeD) and the Polytechnic of Viseu for their support.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.