A wearable fall detector for elderly people

Falls and their subsequent possible side effects are for elderly people and people with various illnesses, such as epilepsy, are present the main obstacle to an independent and more dignified life. Even for people living independently, falls are common occurrences. Proper use of a fall detector will not only add more security to the seniors, but will also allow for timely medical intervention that can be life-critical. One of the limitations of this wearable technology is its limited lifetime and the occurrence of possible errors during the data acquisition and processing process. A fall detector designed to be able to monitor the activity of elderly people and designed to make the necessary warnings to ensure their safety as a result of the fall. In addition, other options that are used for this purpose are compared. This paper summarizes the functionality, architecture and implementation of the system.ERDF, European Regional Development Fun

Multimodal and ubiquitous computing systems: supporting independent-living older users

We document the rationale and design of a multimodal interface to a pervasive/ubiquitous computing system that supports independent living by older people in their own homes. The Millennium Home system involves fitting a resident’s home with sensors – these sensors can be used to trigger sequences of interaction with the resident to warn them about dangerous events, or to check if they need external help. We draw lessons from the design process and conclude the paper with implications for the design of multimodal interfaces to ubiquitous systems developed for the elderly and in healthcare, as well as for more general ubiquitous computing applications

Which activities threaten independent living of elderly when becoming problematic : inspiration for meaningful service robot functionality

Purpose: In light of the increasing elderly population and the growing demand for home care, the potential of robot support is given increasing attention. In this paper, an inventory of activities was made that threaten independent living of elderly when becoming problematic. Results will guide the further development of an existing service robot, the Care-O-bot®. Method: A systematic literature search of PubMed was performed, focused on the risk factors for institutionalization. Additionally, focus group sessions were conducted in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and France. In these focus group sessions, problematic activities threatening the independence of elderly people were discussed. Three separate target groups were included in the focus group sessions: (1) elderly persons (n = 41), (2) formal caregivers (n = 40) and (3) informal caregivers (n = 32). Results: Activities within the International Classification of Functioning domains mobility, self-care, and interpersonal interaction and relationships were found to be the most problematic. Conclusions: A distinct set of daily activities was identified that may threaten independent living, but no single activity could be selected as the main activity causing a loss of independence as it is often a combination of problematic activities that is person-specific. Supporting the problematic activities need not involve a robotic solution Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/17483107.2013.840861Peer reviewe

The advanced activities of daily living: a tool allowing the evaluation of subtle functional decline in mild cognitive impairment

Objectives: Assessment of advanced activities of daily living (a-ADL) can be of interest in establishing the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in an earlier stage, since these activities demand high cognitive functioning and are more responsive to subtle changes. In this study we tested a new a-ADL tool, developed according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The a-ADL tool is based on the total number of activities performed (TNA) by a person and takes each subject as his own reference. It distinguishes a total Disability Index (a-ADL-DI), a Cognitive Disability Index (a-ADL-CDI), and a Physical Disability Index (a-ADL-PDI), with lower score representing more independency. We explored whether these indices allow distinction between cognitively healthy persons, patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and patients with mild AD. Methods: Participants were on average 80 years old (SD 4.6; 66-90), were community dwelling, and were diagnosed as (1) cognitively healthy subjects (n=26); (2) patients with MCI (n = 17), or (3) mild AD (n = 25), based upon extensive clinical evaluation and a set of global, cognitive, mood and functional assessments. The a-ADL-tool was not part of the clinical evaluation. Results: The a-ADL-CDI was significantly different between the three groups (p<.01). The a-ADL-DI was significantly different between MCI and AD (p<.001). The tool had good psychometrical properties (inter-rater reliability; agreement between patient and proxy; correlations with cognitive tests). Although the sample size was relatively small, ROC curves were computed for the a-ADL-DI and a-ADL-CDI with satisfactory and promising results. Conclusion: The a-ADL-CDI and a-ADL-DI might offer a useful contribution to the identification and follow up of patients with mild cognitive disorders in an older population

Online Group-exercises for Older Adults of Different Physical Abilities

In this paper we describe the design and validation of a virtual fitness environment aiming at keeping older adults physically and socially active. We target particularly older adults who are socially more isolated, physically less active, and with less chances of training in a gym. The virtual fitness environment, namely Gymcentral, was designed to enable and motivate older adults to follow personalised exercises from home, with a (heterogeneous) group of remote friends and under the remote supervision of a Coach. We take the training activity as an opportunity to create social interactions, by complementing training features with social instruments. Finally, we report on the feasibility and effectiveness of the virtual environment, as well as its effects on the usage and social interactions, from an intervention study in Trento, Ital

Regional differences in business start-up rates in Australia : implications for future research and public policy

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project in Australia provided both data and theoretical framework for this investigation of regional differences in entrepreneurial activity within Australia and the factors that might underlie such differences.This study found that entrepreneurial activity as measured by participation in business start-ups varied significantly between 11 defined regions of Australia. Factors found to be associated with high start-up activity were personal acquaintance with someone who had recently started a business (strong and statistically significant) and the perception of good opportunities for starting a business locally (indicative only). Participation rate by age range across region varied widely. Sample size precluded more in-depth analysis.The study indicates a need for a research program designed to produce data and analysis that might be constructively shared by those who wish to foster entrepreneurship in Australia.<br /

Measuring the Use of the Active and Assisted Living Prototype CARIMO for Home Care Service Users: Evaluation Framework and Results

To address the challenges of aging societies, various information and communication technology (ICT)-based systems for older people have been developed in recent years. Currently, the evaluation of these so-called active and assisted living (AAL) systems usually focuses on the analyses of usability and acceptance, while some also assess their impact. Little is known about the actual take-up of these assistive technologies. This paper presents a framework for measuring the take-up by analyzing the actual usage of AAL systems. This evaluation framework covers detailed information regarding the entire process including usage data logging, data preparation, and usage data analysis. We applied the framework on the AAL prototype CARIMO for measuring its take-up during an eight-month field trial in Austria and Italy. The framework was designed to guide systematic, comparable, and reproducible usage data evaluation in the AAL field; however, the general applicability of the framework has yet to be validated