Skip to content

Care Technology Glossary of Terms

We have compiled a list of key terms used in the technology-enabled care sector. This resource will be continuously reviewed and updated. Please inform us if there are any terms you would like to see added to the glossary.

AJAX progress indicator
  • Based on activity monitoring, lifestyle monitoring attempts to interpret activities and build up a profile of habitual behaviours. Any deviation from normal patterns can be used as an early warning of deterioration, prompting a response from family or professionals. The term tends not to be used as much anymore, with Activity Monitoring being used instead.
  • Illnesses and health conditions that may not in themselves be acute, but which can impact on life for several years or until death. Examples include asthma, epilepsy, autism and types of dementia.
  • LoRaWAN is an abbreviation for Long Range Wide Area Network, a type of Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) that uses open-source technology and transmits over unlicensed frequency bands. Designed for the Internet of Things (IoT), LoRaWAN technology provides a far longer range than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connections works well indoors, and is especially valuable for applications in remote areas where cellular networks have poor coverage.
  • LPWAN’s are a new class of connectivity technologies for use with Internet of Things (IoT) devices and battery-operated sensor applications. Commonly used LPWAN standards are LoRaWAN, Sigfox, and the emerging cellular standards NB-IoT and CAT-M. They all have long range (up to 10 kilometers), low power (battery lifetime of 5+ years) and low bandwidth, which is fine for most sensing applications.