Early diagnosis of frailty: Technological and non-intrusive devices for clinical detection

This work analyses different concepts for frailty diagnosis based on affordable standard technology such as smartphones or wearable devices. The goal is to provide ideas that go beyond classical diagnostic tools such as magnetic resonance imaging or tomography, thus changing the paradigm; enabling the detection of frailty without expensive facilities, in an ecological way for both patients and medical staff and even with continuous monitoring. Fried's five-point phenotype model of frailty along with a model based on trials and several classical physical tests were used for device classification. This work provides a starting point for future researchers who will have to try to bridge the gap separating elderly people from technology and medical tests in order to provide feasible, accurate and affordable tools for frailty monitoring for a wide range of users.This work was sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) across projects RTC-2017-6321-1 AEI/FEDER, UE, TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R AEI/FEDER, UE and PID2019-107270RB-C21/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, UE

A Scoping Review of Digital Gaming Research Involving Older Adults Aged 85 and Older

Background: Interest in the use of digital game technologies by older adults is growing across disciplines from health and gerontology to computer science and game studies. The objective of this scoping review was to examine research evidence involving the oldest old (persons 85 years of age or greater) and digital game technology. Materials and Methods: PubMed, CINHAL, and Scopus were searched, and 46 articles were included in this review. Results: Results highlighted that 60 percent of articles were published in gerontological journals, whereas only 8.7 percent were published in computer science journals. No studies focused directly on the oldest old population. Few studies included sample sizes greater than 100 participants. Seven primary and 34 secondary themes were identified, of which Hardware Technology and Assessment were the most common. Conclusions: Existing evidence demonstrates the paucity of studies engaging older adults 85 years of age and above regarding the use of digital gaming and highlights a new understudied cohort for further research focus. Recommendations for future research include intentional recruitment and proportionate representation of participants ≥85 years of age, large sample sizes, and explicit mention of specific numbers of participants ≥85 years of age, which are necessary to advance knowledge in this area. Integrating a rigorous and robust mixed-methods approach including theoretical perspectives would lend itself to further in-depth understanding and knowledge generation in this field

Improving awareness of health hazards associated with air pollution in primary school children: Design and test of didactic tools

One of the objectives of the MAPEC-Life project is raising children’s awareness on air quality and its health effects. To achieve this goal, we designed didactic tools for primary school students, including leaflets with more information for teachers, a cartoon, and three educational videogames. The tools were then tested with 266 children who attended six primary schools in four Italian cities. A control group of 51 children received only explanations from teachers. An improvement in knowledge after using the audiovisual package was demonstrated, with higher efficacy compared with the control group. In addition, the use of videogames was greatly appreciated

Design of a Predictive Scheduling System to Improve Assisted Living Services for Elders

International audienceAs the number of older adults increases, and with it the demand for dedicated care, geriatric residences face a shortage of caregivers, who themselves experience work overload, stress and burden. We conducted a long-term field study in three geriatric residences to understand the work conditions of caregivers with the aim of developing technologies to assist them in their work and help them deal with their burden. From this study we obtained relevant requirements and insights of design that were used to design, implement and evaluate two prototypes for supporting caregivers' tasks (e.g. electronic recording and automatic notifications), in order to validate the feasibility of their implementation in-situ and the technical requirements. The evaluation in-situ of the prototypes was conducted for a period of four weeks. The results of the evaluation, together with the data collected from six months of use, motivated the design of a predictive schedule. Such design was iteratively improved and evaluated in participative sessions with caregivers. PRESENCE, the predictive schedule we propose, triggers real-time alerts of risky situations (e.g. falls, entering off-limits areas such as the infirmary or the kitchen) and, informs caregivers of routine tasks that need to be performed (e.g. medication administration, diaper change, etc.). Moreover, PRESENCE helps caregivers to record caring tasks (such as diaper changes or medication) and wellbeing assessments (such as the mood), which are difficult to automatize. This facilitates caregiver's shift handover, and can help to train new caregivers by suggesting routine tasks and by sending reminders and timely information about the residents. It can be seen as a tool to reduce the workload of caregivers and medical staff. Instead of trying to substitute the caregiver with an automatic caring system, as proposed by others, we propose the design of our predictive schedule system that blends caregiver's assessments and measurements from sensors. We show the feasibility of predicting caregiver's tasks and a formative evaluation with caregivers that provides preliminary evidence of its utility

Collaborative Computer-Assisted Cognitive Rehabilitation System

Recently have been proposed different physical and cognitive rehabilitation system that allow people with some disabilities to improve and recover some lost capabilities. All these systems allow to carry out these therapies at home proving patients the possibility to accomplish a better rehabilitation, due to the fact that they can practice at home and in a more controlled environment. But, it is not so common that these systems include some social features that reduce the feeling of social isolation of the patients. Thus, in this paper we present an adaptation of a previous proposal including some multiuser therapies that try include some social features and other aspect related to videogames that increases the motivation and makes the treatment funny

Video Games and Outdoor Physical Activity for the Elderly: Applications of the HybridPLAY Technology

The incorporation of the elderly into digital leisure has been especially driven by the development of games and applications that link the experience of play with beneficial effects for the user. Some of these benefits arise at a cognitive level, fostering intellectual activity of adults through playful experiences that combine audio-visual entertainment with brain training. Seniors are also engaged by active video games that use control interfaces to perform physical actions or activities, encouraging motor play. In this paper, we present the application of HybridPLAY for the elderly, a self-developed technology initially thought to transform playgrounds into scenarios for a set of interactive digital games. In this paper, we show that, although HybridPLAY was initially developed for children and teenagers, the versatile features of this technology make it appropriate also for the elderly. After having tested HybridPLAY with a small group of seniors who completed a usability test and a satisfaction questionnaire, we show that it is possible to combine playful entertainment with physical and mental activities in outdoor environments for the elderly

Improving personalized elderly care: an approach using cognitive agents to better assist elderly people

Tesis por compendio de publicaciones[ES]El envejecimiento de la población a nivel global es una constante cada vez más presente en el día a día y las consecuencias derivadas de este problema son cada vez más impactantes para el correcto funcionamiento y estructuración de la sociedad. En este contexto, hablamos de consecuencias a nivel de crecimiento económico, estilos de vida (y jubilación), relaciones familiares, recursos disponibles por el gobierno a la franja etaria más anciana e inevitablemente la prevalencia de enfermedades crónicas. Es ante esta realidad que surge la necesidad de desarrollo y promoción de estrategias eficaces en el acompañamiento, prevención y estímulo al envejecimiento activo y saludable de la población para garantizar que las personas ancianas continúen teniendo un papel relevante en la sociedad en lugar de someterse al aislamiento y fácil deterioro de las capacidades físicas, cognitivas, emocionales y sociales. De esta forma, tiene todo el sentido aprovechar todos los desarrollos tecnológicos verificados en los últimos años, principalmente en lo que se refiere a avances en las áreas de dispositivos móviles, inteligencia artificial y sistemas de monitoreo y crear soluciones capaces de brindar apoyo diariamente al recopilar datos e indicadores del estado de salud y, en respuesta, proporcionar diversas acciones personalizadas que motiven la adopción de mejores hábitos de salud y medios para lograr este envejecimiento activo y saludable. El desafío consiste en motivar a esta población a conciliar su día a día con el interés y la voluntad de utilizar aplicaciones y sistemas que brinden este apoyo personalizado. Algunas de las abordajes recientemente explorados en la literatura con este objetivo y que han alcanzado resultados prometedores se basan en la utilización de técnicas de gamificación e incentivo al cumplimiento de desafíos a nivel de salud (como si la persona estuviera jugando un juego) y la utilización de interacciones personalizadas con objetos (ya sean físicos como robots o virtuales como avatares) capaces de brindar feedback más personal, creando así una conexión más cercana entre ambas entidades. El trabajo aquí presentado combina estas ideas y resulta en un enfoque inteligente para la promoción del bienestar de la población anciana a través de un sistema de cuidados de salud personalizado. Este sistema incorpora diversas técnicas de gamificación para la promoción de mejores hábitos y comportamientos, y la utilización de un asistente virtual cognitivo capaz de entender las necesidades e intereses del usuario para posibilitar un feedback e interacción personalizados con el fin de ayudar y motivar al cumplimiento de los diferentes desafíos y objetivos que se identifiquen. El enfoque propuesto fue validado a través de un estudio con 12 usuarios ancianos y se lograron resultados significativos en términos de usabilidad, aceptación y efectos de salud. Específicamente, los resultados obtenidos permiten respaldar la importancia y el efecto positivo de combinar técnicas de gamificación e interacción con un asistente virtual cognitivo que traduzca el progreso del estado de salud del usuario, ya que se lograron mejoras significativas en los resultados de salud después de la intervención. Además, los resultados de usabilidad obtenidos mediante la cumplimentación de un cuestionario de usabilidad confirmaron la buena adhesión a el enfoque presentado. Estos resultados validan la hipótesis de la investigación estudiada en el desarrollo de esta disertación

An intelligent assistive tool using exergaming and response surface methodology for patients with brain disorders

Intelligent assistive technologies represent a concept that refers to products and services that can offset functional limitations, facilitate independent life, improve their quality of life, and enable people with disabilities to reach their own potential. This paper presents a medical recovery exergaming that includes a Microsoft Kinect Motion Sensor, designed for upper limb rehabilitation, especially for old people with brain disorders. The game is 3D and during the game, the user has to pick up the red or green apples according to a level, and different angles of inclination of the neck, hand, shoulder, and so on are measured and then a total score is generated. To know if the patient has progressed in his medical recovery, the final score should be increased. In order to find the score that a subject without a locomotor system disorder can achieve, we have optimized the game with mathematical modeling and canonical analysis by applying response surface methodology and multiple nonlinear regression. The exergaming based on VR active games represents a useful tool in physical and cognitive rehabilitation for people with motor impairments or brain disorders, considering the advantage of home-training.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hacer frente a los desafíos de una fuerza laboral que envejece con el uso de tecnologías usables y la auto-cuantificación

The world's population is aging at an unprecedented rate, this demographic shift will change all aspects of life, including work. The aging of the worforce and a higher percentage of workers who will work past traditional retirement years presents significant challenges and opportunities for employers. Older workers are a valuable resource, but in order to ensure they stay in good health, prevention will be key. Wearable technologies are quickly becoming ubiquitous, individuals are turning to them to monitor health, activities and hundreds of other quantifiable occurences. Wearable technologies could provide a new means for employers to tackle the challenges associated with an aging workforce by creating a wide spectrum of opportunities to intervene in terms of aging employees and extend their working lives by keeping them safe and healthy through prevention. Employers are already making standing desks available, and encouraging lunch time exercise, is it feasible for Wearables to make the jump from a tool for individuals to a method for employers to ensure better health, well-being and safety for their employees? The aim of this work is to lay out the implications for such interventions with Wearable technologies (monitoring health and well-being, oversight and safety, and mentoring and training) and challenges (privacy, acceptability, and scalability). While an ageing population presents significant challenges, including an aging work force, this demographic change should be seen, instead, as an opportunity rethink and innovate workplace health and take advantage of the experience of older workers. The Quantified-Self and Wearables can leverage interventions to improve employees’ health, safety and well-being.La población mundial está envejeciendo a un ritmo sin precedentes. El envejecimiento y un mayor porcentaje de trabajadores que trabajan más allá de los años de jubilación presentan importantes desafíos y oportunidades. Los trabajadores mayores son un recurso valioso, pero a fin de garantizar que permanezcan en buen estado de salud, la prevención será la clave. Tecnologías portátiles, ó wearables, están proporcionando un medio para hacer frente a el envejecimiento mediante la creación de un amplio espectro de oportunidades para intervenir y para prolongar la vida laboral de los colaboradores, mantenendoles seguros y saludables. El objetivo de este trabajo es exponer las implicaciones de este tipo de intervenciones con wearables (Control de salud, vigilancia, seguridad, y formación) y los desafíos (privacidad, aceptabilidad y escalabilidad). Los wearables pueden aprovechar y fortalecer las intervenciones para mejorar la salud, seguridad y el bienestar de los empleados.Martin Lavallière was supported by a postdoctoral research grant - Recherche en sécurité routière : Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC), Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS). This work was partially developed with the financial support of the Luso-American Development Foundation - FLAD, through the research grant ref. rv14022, and of the MIT Portugal Program