Technologies for Ambient Assisted Living: Ambient Communication and Indoor Positioning

In all industrialised countries, the population is aging rapidly as the average life expectancy continues to rise and the number of younger age groups grows smaller. Hence, due to economical and practical reasons, the elders of the near future will likely live longer in their own apartments, particularly because institutionalization is significantly expensive and there is not room for the entire elderly population in currently existing nursing homes. Even more important, nearly all people would choose to live independently as long as possible before moving into an assisted-living facility.A longer period of independent living for elders can be enabled by technical solutions. In this work, two technology areas for assisted living are studied. First, the prevention of feelings of loneliness in elders living alone is studied, and a solution for social inclusion and remote presence is presented. The results of long-lasting field trials are presented and analysed. Secondly, as information regarding the location of the inhabitant in the apartment can be used to provide several assistive services, indoor positioning systems are also studied in this work. Several technologies for indoor positioning are presented and compared. Furthermore, a new system based on capacitive measurement and the results of testing of the system are introduced.Technologies and systems developed here have been implemented into actual systems, and real end users have tested them over long periods of time. Thus, these technologies can be developed into commercial products with reasonable effort. Moreover, in this work it has been proven that the systems developed can actually be used to support the independent living of elders

Ageing Technologically: Exploring the Motivating Operations of Technology Use by Older Adults

Statistics from the 2011 UK Census revealed that one sixth of the population were over the age of 65, which is the highest recorded ratio in any census history. Although there are discrepancies in the physical, mental and social wellbeing of the older adult population, huge strains have been placed upon the National Health Service, care system and subject population. Previous scholarship has revealed that technology use in various formats can reduce these pressures, however, published work on older adults and technology often focusses on attitudes and intentions rather than motivations of actual use. This thesis addresses this gap in the literature by examining the Motivating Operations (MOs) on post-purchase technology use of older adults. By adopting a radical behaviourist perspective, the present research attempts to introduce the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) term, Motivating Operation, to consumer behaviour by incorporating the proposed MOs into the already established Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM). This approach encourages the measurement of actual technology use as an operant behaviour alongside the MOs, as independent variables, impacting upon the rate-of-response. Consequently, a longitudinal quantitative and qualitative empirical strategy has been devised to produce a rich and complex set of data to explain older adult technology use. Overall, by using principles of behaviourism to interpret the technology use of older adults within a post-purchase environment, this thesis intends to break the dominant trend within technology acceptance and adoption literature of relying on either the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) or Diffusion of Innovation (DIT) to explain behaviours related to technology use. Alternatively, it produces an imaginative but logical analysis of the subject behaviour, which is not in contention with previous models but intends to enhance and expand the consumer behaviour, technology acceptance and adoption literature

Social media in health and care co-production

The future of health and care services in the EU faces the three challenges of the aging population, fiscal restriction, and social inclusion. Co-production offers ways to manage informal care resources to enable them to better cater to the growing needs of elderly people. Social Media (SM) are seen as a critical enabler of co-production. This study investigates SM as an enabler of co-production in health and care for elderly people and develops a typology of opportunities and limitations of SM in relation to health and care. The study considers how SM acts as an enabler of co-production in health and care by facilitating its four underlying principles: equality, diversity, accessibility, and reciprocity. Normalization Process Theory (NPT) provides the theoretical framework for this qualitative study. Eighteen semi-structured interviews and observation of the activities of 10 online groups and individuals provide the data for the thematically-analysed findings. The study findings show how different SM are used to enable co-production through coordination and communication across boundaries. SM connects carers, disseminates information and engages volunteers. However, many types of SM are only rarely used in this sector due to their limitations. Nevertheless, carers of elderly patients demonstrated interest in using systems to engage people in the shaping of services, the sharing of experiences and encouraging activities. The study findings point to distinct patterns of feature use by different people involved in the care of elderly people. This diversity makes possible the principles of co-production by offering equality among users, enabling diversity of use, making experiences accessible, and encouraging reciprocity in the sharing of knowledge and mutual support. Exploitation of common resources also may lead to new forms of competition and conflicts. These conflicts require better management to enhance the coordination of the common pool of resources. The study finds that SM can facilitate co-production by offering mechanisms for coordination of the common pool of carer resources. It also enables better management of activities amongst other actors (professionals, patients, voluntary organisations, etc.). The study also demonstrates that, despite the capabilities of SM in achieving coproduction, many applications (both general and healthcare-specific) are not used to their full potential. The study also explores new innovations in this field and why they have failed to deliver their intended services

Envelhecimento ativo e os usos das TIC por pessoas mais velhas no Brasil e em Portugal

UID/CCI/04667/2019De acordo com o investigadora do ICNOVA, esta investigação “dá um contributo científico no campo das Ciências da Comunicação ao abordar idosos e as suas relações sociais e comunicacionais através das tecnologias de informação e comunicação. Podemos afirmar que a nossa maior contribuição para futuros trabalhos é reforçar que o envelhecimento da população e o uso das tecnologias digitais fazem parte de um processo em desenvolvimento e que para tentar compreender a sua natureza complexa as pesquisas devem ser abrangentes tanto quanto possível. Não se pode compreender a relação entre idoso e as TIC separadamente de experiências e processos desenvolvidos ao longo da vida, mas sim como parte uma dimensão da estrutura social e do comportamento da pessoa idosa dentro do ambiente em que vive.publishersversionpublishe

Demasiado velho para o digital? Envelhecimento ativo e os usos das TIC por pessoas mais velhas no Brasil e em Portugal

O envelhecimento da população e a difusão das tecnologias de informação e comunicação - TIC - fazem parte da realidade de diversas regiões do mundo. Brasil e Portugal encontram-se nessa mesma tendência com percentagens cada vez mais elevadas de idosos (IBGE, 2016; INE, 2016), mas cuja apropriação e usos das TIC ainda são baixos (CGI.br, 2016; Obercom, 2016) prevenindo-os de possíveis benefícios que podem advir desse ambiente tecnológico. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa discute a relação entre idosos e TIC no Brasil e em Portugal tendo como objetivo responder à seguinte pergunta: de que formas os usos e a apropriação das tecnologias de informação e comunicação influenciam no envelhecimento ativo de pessoas com 60 anos ou mais no Brasil e em Portugal? Para isso, levamos em consideração o conceito de envelhecimento ativo, o contexto social em que os idosos estão inseridos, teorias e modelos teóricos relacionados com o processo de envelhecimento e o uso das TIC e as percepções positivas e negativas que esses idosos possuem sobre o uso das TIC e o envolvimento em interações sociais online. Para a recolha de dados, foi utilizada a abordagem metodológica qualitativa através da observação não participante, grupos focais e entrevistas semiestruturadas. A amostragem foi composta por 36 pessoas, brasileiras e portuguesas, com idades entre 60 e 84 anos, que frequentavam aulas de informática em universidades seniores e que tinham acesso a pelo menos uma das seguintes tecnologias digitais: o computador, o celular e o tablet com ligação à internet. Os resultados do estudo apontaram as seguintes conclusões: - Os adultos mais velhos têm uma visão maioritariamente positiva sobre o uso das TIC; - Os usos e a apropriação das TIC influenciam no envelhecimento ativo porque contribuem para uma participação mais consistente e com efeitos globalmente positivos sobre os idosos, mas tal não vem livre de possíveis consequências negativas; - O contexto social e o curso de vida influenciam na forma como lidam com as TIC, podendo suprir a ausência física de pessoas próximas e aumentar a frequência da comunicação dentro e fora do ambiente familiar e entre gerações.The aging of the population and diffusion of information and communication technologies - ICT - are part of the reality of many areas in the world. Brazil and Portugal take part in this same trend with increasing higher percentages of elderly (IBGE, 2016; INE, 2016), but whose ownership and use of ITC are still low (CGI.br, 2016; Obercom, 2016) preventing them from taking advantage of this technological environment. In this sense, this thesis discusses the relationship between elderly and ICT in Brazil and Portugal having the objective of answering the following question: in what ways the uses and the ownership of information and communication technologies influence on active aging of people with 60 years or more in Brazil and in Portugal? For this reason, we take into account the concept of active aging, the social context in which the elderly are inserted, theories and theoretical models related to the aging process and the use of ICT and the positive and negative perceptions that these elderly have about the use of ICT and the involvement in online social interactions. For data collection, we used the qualitative methodological approach through the non-participant observation, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. The sample was composed of 36 persons, Brazilian and Portuguese, with ages between 60 and 84 years old, who attended computer classes in senior universities and who had access to at least one of the following digital technologies: computer, cellphone and tablet with internet connection. The results of this study showed the following conclusions: - Older adults have a vision overwhelmingly positive about the use of ICT; - The social context and the course of life influence how they deal with ICT, building up the social interactions and increasing the frequency of communication inside and outside the family environment and between generations; - The uses and the appropriation of ICT have a noticeable influence on the process of active aging because they contribute to a more consistent participation and with generally positive effects on the elderly, but that is not totally free of negative consequences