Technological solutions for older people with Alzheimer’s disease : Review

Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge networking support from COST Action CA16226: Indoor living space improvement: Smart Habitat for the Elderly. COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technol-ogy) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation. www.cost.eu. Furthermore, authors acknowledge the internal research project Excellence 2018, Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. Authors acknowledge the funding provided by FCT through the scholarship SFRH/BPD/115112/2016 (Joana Madureira) as well as to Solange Costa and João Paulo Teixeira, both from EPIUnit – Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto and National Institute of Heath, Environmental Health Department. Authors also acknowledge the funding from the University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Bentham Science Publishers.In the nineties, numerous studies began to highlight the problem of the increasing number of people with Alzheimer’s disease in developed countries, especially in the context of demographic progress. At the same time, the 21st century is typical of the development of advanced technologies that penetrate all areas of human life. Digital devices, sensors, and intelligent applications are tools that can help seniors and allow better communication and control of their caregivers. The aim of the paper is to provide an up-to-date summary of the use of technological solutions for improving health and safety for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Firstly, the problems and needs of senior citizens with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their caregivers are specified. Secondly, a scoping review is performed regarding the technological solutions suggested to assist this specific group of patients. Works obtained from the following libraries are used in this scoping review: Web of Science, PubMed, Springer, ACM and IEEE Xplore. Four independent reviewers screened the identified records and selected relevant articles which were published in the period from 2007 to 2018. A total of 6,705 publications were selected. In all, 128 full papers were screened. Results obtained from the relevant studies were furthermore divided into the following categories according to the type and use of technologies: devices, processing, and activity recognition. The leading technological solution in the category of devices are wearables and ambient non-invasive sensors. The introduction and utilization of these technologies, however, bring about challenges in acceptability, durability, ease of use, communication, and power requirements. Furthermore, it needs to be pointed out that these technological solutions should be based on open standards.publishersversionPeer reviewe

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This paper describes the findings arising from ongoing qualitative usability evaluation studies on mobile companion robotics in smart home environments from two research projects focused on socio-technical innovation to support independent living (CompanionAble and Mobiserv). Key findings are described, and it is stated that the robotic companion, the smart home environment, and external services need to be seamlessly integrated to create a truly supportive and trusted system. The idea of robot personas is introduced, and based on our empirical observations, it is argued that the robot persona, rather than the physical embodiment, is the most important determinant of the degree of users' acceptance in terms of users' perceived trustability and responsiveness of the robot and therefore their sense of enhanced usability and satisfaction with such personal assistive systems. © 2011 Springer-Verlag

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