Delivering elder-care environments utilizing TV-channel based mechanisms

In this paper, we present a smart environment for elderly. What makes the development of such system challenging is that the concept of smartness for elderly brings to the extreme the idea of invisibility of the technology. In our experience, elders are well-disposed to new technologies, provided that those will not require significant changes - namely, they are invisible - to their habits. Starting from this consideration, 200 caregivers responses were collected by questionnaire, so as to better understand elders' needs and habits. A system was subsequently developed allowing elders to access a number of "modern web services" as standard TV channels: at channel 43 there is the health status, at channel 45 the photos of the family, at 46 the agenda of the week, just to mention few of the available services. The content of such services is automatically generated by the smart devices in the environment and is managed by the caregivers (e.g., family members) by simple web apps. Fourteen families were asked to install the system in their house. The results of these experiments confirm that the proposed system is considered effective and user-friendly by elders

Support for elderly clients to live at home via Caring TV

‎The purpose of this study is to find out how healthcare professionals support elderly clients to live ‎at home via caring TV. The Caring TV project is an interactive technology developed by Laurea ‎University of applied sciences, TDC Song and Videra Oy and Espoo city. This program provides a ‎learning environment for various sub-projects seeking to develop supportive services according to a ‎client–driven methodological approach. The aim of the study is to find out how Caring TV is used as ‎a tool to support elderly clients to live at home. The research question posed in this study provided ‎answers to the kinds of support Caring TV provide to elderly clients at home. Qualitative approach ‎is applied as the most suitable method with a focus on interactive interview as the primary source ‎of collecting data. A total of five informants (n=5) consisting of healthcare professionals were ‎involved in the interview process and the data collected were transcribed and categorized ‎according to the themes that reflect the main concepts of the study. The method of analysis is ‎qualitative content analysis using inductive approach.‎ Findings revealed the kinds of support provided by healthcare professionals via Caring TV, which is ‎a tool of the safe home project include amongst others; emotional, social, guidance/education and ‎situational support of which assisting the clients to cope at home is considered the most important ‎goal of the Caring TV project. The subcategories of support identified include; reducing loneliness, ‎giving hope, showing respect, providing safety, creating awareness, providing information, ‎providing motivation, networking with other, socializing with others, flexibility in offering ‎programs and providing individualized care. It is worthy to note that the support provided via ‎Caring TV is consistent with the findings of other researchers. The trend of homecare service to ‎the elderly is increasing rapidly as the size of the elderly population continues to grow. The ‎challenges faced by healthcare professionals make the application of new e-service technologies ‎eminent.‎ As the services rendered to the elderly clients become more complex, a major challenge of the ‎Caring TV project is to undergo structural change, which requires adopting strategies to ‎accommodate the growing immigrant elderly class. This also requires the Caring TV to develop a ‎platform for self employment of its own employees who could be trained to understand the vision of ‎the project.

The relationship between independence, inclusion and well-being: the perspective of older citizens living in Coventry, U.K.

Independence, inclusion and wellbeing are commonly seen in a complementary relationship in policy and research literature. This paper examines the meaning of these terms for older citizens living in Coventry and the implications for policy implementation. The data presented, obtained from a large community survey of citizens of 55 years and over living in Coventry, found that although most survey participants were able to function independently, participate in ordinary community life and enjoyed reasonable physical and mental health, many others experienced a series of significant barriers to inclusion and wellbeing. The paper concludes that there is no automatic convergence between independence, inclusion and wellbeing at the level of the individual citizen and that to address this issue, more socially inclusive rather than individualistic forms of independence may be more appropriate goals for local public agencie

An Evidence-Based Approach To Digital Inclusion for Health

This report is the first deliverable of the ?Digital Inclusion and Social Knowledge Media for Health: Frameworks and Roadmaps? project. It discusses the concept of social and digital exclusion and suggests that a focus on the digital mediation of social processes may provide more purchase for public service providers. This focus leads to the consideration of the way in which digital services might support a range of health-related factors which are both directly and indirectly linked to specific health outcomes. The report discusses some examples in the light of a consideration of the specific (and spatial) health needs and priorities of Solihull Care Trust. The report concludes with suggestions for directions for future research and development

The OCarePlatform : a context-aware system to support independent living

Background: Currently, healthcare services, such as institutional care facilities, are burdened with an increasing number of elderly people and individuals with chronic illnesses and a decreasing number of competent caregivers. Objectives: To relieve the burden on healthcare services, independent living at home could be facilitated, by offering individuals and their (in)formal caregivers support in their daily care and needs. With the rise of pervasive healthcare, new information technology solutions can assist elderly people ("residents") and their caregivers to allow residents to live independently for as long as possible. Methods: To this end, the OCarePlatform system was designed. This semantic, data-driven and cloud based back-end system facilitates independent living by offering information and knowledge-based services to the resident and his/her (in)formal caregivers. Data and context information are gathered to realize context-aware and personalized services and to support residents in meeting their daily needs. This body of data, originating from heterogeneous data and information sources, is sent to personalized services, where is fused, thus creating an overview of the resident's current situation. Results: The architecture of the OCarePlatform is proposed, which is based on a service-oriented approach, together with its different components and their interactions. The implementation details are presented, together with a running example. A scalability and performance study of the OCarePlatform was performed. The results indicate that the OCarePlatform is able to support a realistic working environment and respond to a trigger in less than 5 seconds. The system is highly dependent on the allocated memory. Conclusion: The data-driven character of the OCarePlatform facilitates easy plug-in of new functionality, enabling the design of personalized, context-aware services. The OCarePlatform leads to better support for elderly people and individuals with chronic illnesses, who live independently. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Media Takes: On Aging

With the longevity revolution, humankind enters a new and unprecedented stage of development, the impact of which is even greater because of its rapidity. This report/styleguide is an important step in overcoming ageist language and beliefs by providing journalists and others who work in the media with an appropriate body of knowledge, including a lexicon that helps redefine and navigate this new world

Social Situation of Young People in Europe

[Excerpt] European policy on the situation of young people is framed by the EU Youth Strategy 2010–2018, which has two overall objectives: to provide more and equal opportunities for young people in education and in the labour market; and to encourage young people to be active citizens and participate in society. The strategy is centred on eight activity fields, many of which reflect a broad social‑inclusion approach, including voluntary activities, health and well‑being and participation. This policy brief provides information on several of these dimensions