Low-power wide-area networks : design goals, architecture, suitability to use cases and research challenges

Previous survey articles on Low-Powered Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs) lack a systematic analysis of the design goals of LPWAN and the design decisions adopted by various commercially available and emerging LPWAN technologies, and no study has analysed how their design decisions impact their ability to meet design goals. Assessing a technology's ability to meet design goals is essential in determining suitable technologies for a given application. To address these gaps, we have analysed six prominent design goals and identified the design decisions used to meet each goal in the eight LPWAN technologies, ranging from technical consideration to business model, and determined which specific technique in a design decision will help meet each goal to the greatest extent. System architecture and specifications are presented for those LPWAN solutions, and their ability to meet each design goal is evaluated. We outline seventeen use cases across twelve domains that require large low power network infrastructure and prioritise each design goal's importance to those applications as Low, Moderate, or High. Using these priorities and each technology's suitability for meeting design goals, we suggest appropriate LPWAN technologies for each use case. Finally, a number of research challenges are presented for current and future technologies. © 2013 IEEE

Effectiveness of sensor monitoring in an occupational therapy rehabilitation program for older individuals after hip fracture, the SO-HIP trial::study protocol of a three-arm stepped wedge cluster randomized trial

BACKGROUND: The performance of activities of daily living (ADL) at home is important for the recovery of older individuals after hip fracture. However, 20-90% of these individuals lose ADL function and never fully recover. It is currently unknown to what extent occupational therapy (OT) with coaching based on cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) improves recovery. The same holds for sensor monitoring-based coaching in addition to OT. Here, we describe the design of a study investigating the effect of sensor monitoring embedded in an OT rehabilitation program on the recovery of ADL among older individuals after hip fracture. METHODS/ DESIGN: Six nursing homes will be randomized in a three-arm stepped wedge cluster randomized trial. All nursing homes will initially provide standard care. At designated time points, nursing homes, successively and in random order, will cross over to the provision of OT and at the next time point, to sensor monitoring-enhanced OT. A total of 288 older individuals, previously living alone in the community, who after a hip fracture were admitted to a geriatric rehabilitation ward for a short-term rehabilitation, will be enrolled. Individuals in the first intervention group (OTc) will participate in an OT rehabilitation program with coaching based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles. In the sensor monitoring group, sensor monitoring is added to the OT intervention (OTcsm). Participants will receive a sensor monitoring system consisting of (i) an activity monitor during nursing home stay, (ii) a sensor monitoring system at home and a (iii) a web-based feedback application. These components will be embedded in the OT. The OT consists of a weekly session with an occupational therapist during the nursing home stay followed by four home visits and four telephone consultations. The primary outcome is patient-perceived daily functioning at 6 months, assessed using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). DISCUSSION: As far as we know, this study is the first large-scale stepped wedge trial, studying the effect of sensor monitoring embedded in an OT coaching program. The study will provide new knowledge on the combined intervention of sensor monitoring and coaching in OT as a part of a rehabilitation program to enable older individuals to perform everyday activities and to remain living independently after hip fracture. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Netherlands National Trial Register, NTR 5716 Date registered: April 1 2016

Sensormonitoring: Het ondersteunen van het dagelijks functioneren bij zelfstandig wonende ouderen

Hoe kan sensortechnologie worden gebruikt om thuiswonende ouderen te ondersteunen bij het dagelijks functioneren? Margriet Pol promoveerde op 5 februari 2019 met haar proefschrift ‘Sensor monitoring to measure and support activities of daily living for independently living older persons’ aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Zij is docent en onderzoeker aan de opleiding Ergotherapie van de Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA). Dit artikel is een samenvatting van haar onderzoek. Het proefschrift is ontwikkeld in een samenwerking van het lectoraat ‘Participatie en omgeving’ van de opleiding Ergotherapie (dr. Margo van Hartingsveldt), het lectoraat ‘Digital Life’ (prof. Ben Kröse) en de afdeling ouderengeneeskunde van het Universitair Medisch Centrum Amsterdam-AMC (prof. Bianca Buurman)

Everyday life after a hip fracture: what community-living older adults perceive as most beneficial for their recovery

OBJECTIVE: to gain insight into what older adults after hip fracture perceive as most beneficial to their recovery to everyday life. DESIGN: qualitative research approach. SETTING: six skilled nursing facilities. PARTICIPANTS: 19 older community dwelling older adults (aged 65-94), who had recently received geriatric rehabilitation after hip fracture. METHODS: semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 older adults after hip fracture. Coding techniques based on constructivist grounded theory were applied. RESULTS: four categories were derived from the data: 'restrictions for everyday life', 'recovery process', 'resources for recovery' and 'performing everyday activities'. Physical and psychological restrictions are consequences of hip fracture that older adults have struggled to address during recovery. Three different resources were found to be beneficial for recovery; 'supporting and coaching', 'myself' and 'technological support'. These resources influenced the recovery process. Having successful experiences during recovery led to doing everyday activities in the same manner as before; unsuccessful experiences led to ceasing certain activities altogether. CONCLUSION: participants highlight their own role ('myself') as essential for recovery. Additionally, coaching provides emotional support, which boosts self-confidence in performing everyday activities. Furthermore, technology can encourage older adults to become more active and being engaged in the recovery process. The findings suggest that more attention should be paid to follow-up interventions after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation to support older adults in finding new routines in their everyday activities.A conceptual model is presented and provides an understanding of the participants' experiences and perspectives concerning their process of recovery after hip fracture to everyday life

Everyday life after a hip fracture: what community-living older adults perceive as most beneficial for their recovery

OBJECTIVE: to gain insight into what older adults after hip fracture perceive as most beneficial to their recovery to everyday life. DESIGN: qualitative research approach. SETTING: six skilled nursing facilities. PARTICIPANTS: 19 older community dwelling older adults (aged 65-94), who had recently received geriatric rehabilitation after hip fracture. METHODS: semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 older adults after hip fracture. Coding techniques based on constructivist grounded theory were applied. RESULTS: four categories were derived from the data: 'restrictions for everyday life', 'recovery process', 'resources for recovery' and 'performing everyday activities'. Physical and psychological restrictions are consequences of hip fracture that older adults have struggled to address during recovery. Three different resources were found to be beneficial for recovery; 'supporting and coaching', 'myself' and 'technological support'. These resources influenced the recovery process. Having successful experiences during recovery led to doing everyday activities in the same manner as before; unsuccessful experiences led to ceasing certain activities altogether. CONCLUSION: participants highlight their own role ('myself') as essential for recovery. Additionally, coaching provides emotional support, which boosts self-confidence in performing everyday activities. Furthermore, technology can encourage older adults to become more active and being engaged in the recovery process. The findings suggest that more attention should be paid to follow-up interventions after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation to support older adults in finding new routines in their everyday activities.A conceptual model is presented and provides an understanding of the participants' experiences and perspectives concerning their process of recovery after hip fracture to everyday life

Older People's Perspectives Regarding the Use of Sensor Monitoring in Their Home

The early detection of a decline in daily functioning of independently living older people can aid health care professionals in providing preventive interventions. To monitor daily activity patterns and, thereby detect a decline in daily functioning, new technologies, such as sensors can be placed in the home environment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the perspectives of older people regarding the use of sensor monitoring in their daily lives. We conducted indepth, semistructured interviews with 11 persons between 68 and 93 years who had a sensor monitoring system installed in their home. The data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The interviewed older persons positively valued sensor monitoring and indicated that the technology served as a strategy to enable independent living. The participants perceived that the system contributed to their sense of safety as an important premise for independent living. Some of the participants stated that it helped them to remain active. The potential privacy violation was not an issue for the participants. The participants considered that health care professionals' continuous access to their sensor data and use of the data for their safety outweighed the privacy concerns. These results provide new evidence that older persons experience sensor monitoring as an opportunity or strategy that contributes to independent living and that does not disturb their natural way of living. Based on this study, the development of new strategies to provide older people with access to their sensor data must be further explore