scholarly journals Developing a Sensor-Based Mobile Application for In-Home Frailty Assessment: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela D. Blinka ◽  
Brian Buta ◽  
Kevin D Bader ◽  
Casey Hanley ◽  
Nancy Schoenborn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Data Management ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Adult Care ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Frailty Status ◽  
Frailty Assessment

Abstract BackgroundFrailty syndrome disproportionately affects older people, including 15% of non-nursing home population, and is known to be a strong predictor of poor health outcomes. There is a growing interest in incorporating frailty assessment into research and clinical practice, which may provide an opportunity to improve in home frailty assessment and improve doctor patient communication.MethodsWe conducted focus groups discussions to solicit input from older adult care recipients (non-frail, pre-frail, and frail), their informal caregivers, and medical providers about their preferences to tailor a mobile app to measure frailty in the home using sensor based technologies. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically. ResultsWe identified three major themes: 1) perspectives of frailty; 2) perceptions of home based sensors; and 3) data management concerns. These relate to the participants’ insight, attitudes and concerns about having sensor-based technology to measure frailty in the home. Our qualitative findings indicate that knowing frailty status is important and useful and would allow older adults to remain independent longer. Participants also noted concerns with data management and the hope that this technology would not replace in-person visits with their healthcare provider.ConclusionsThis study found that study participants of each frailty status expressed high interest and acceptance of sensor-based technologies. Based on the qualitative findings of this study, sensor-based technologies show promise for frailty assessment of older adults with care needs. The main concerns identified related to the volume of data collected and strategies for responsible and secure transfer, reporting, and distillation of data into useful and timely care information. Sensor-based technologies should be piloted for feasibility and utility. This will inform the larger goal of helping older adults to maintain independence while tracking potential health declines, especially among the most vulnerable, for early detection and intervention. Keywords: Frailty, wearable, health services

scholarly journals Developing a Sensor-Based Mobile Application for In-Home Frailty Assessment: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela D. Blinka ◽  
Brian Buta ◽  
Kevin D Bader ◽  
Casey Hanley ◽  
Nancy Schoenborn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Data Management ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Adult Care ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Frailty Status ◽  
Frailty Assessment

Abstract Background Frailty syndrome disproportionately affects older people, including 15% of non-nursing home population, and is known to be a strong predictor of poor health outcomes. There is a growing interest in incorporating frailty assessment into research and clinical practice, which may provide an opportunity to improve in home frailty assessment and improve doctor patient communication.Methods We conducted focus groups discussions to solicit input from older adult care recipients (non-frail, pre-frail, and frail), their informal caregivers, and medical providers about their preferences to tailor a mobile app to measure frailty in the home using sensor based technologies. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically.Results We identified three major themes: 1) perspectives of frailty; 2) perceptions of home based sensors; and 3) data management concerns. These relate to the participants’ insight, attitudes and concerns about having sensor-based technology to measure frailty in the home. Our qualitative findings indicate that knowing frailty status is important and useful and would allow older adults to remain independent longer. Participants also noted concerns with data management and the hope that this technology would not replace in-person visits with their healthcare provider.Conclusions This study found that study participants of each frailty status expressed high interest and acceptance of sensor-based technologies. Based on the qualitative findings of this study, sensor-based technologies show promise for frailty assessment of older adults with care needs. The main concerns identified related to the volume of data collected and strategies for responsible and secure transfer, reporting, and distillation of data into useful and timely care information. Sensor-based technologies should be piloted for feasibility and utility. This will inform the larger goal of helping older adults to maintain independence while tracking potential health declines, especially among the most vulnerable, for early detection and intervention. Keywords: Frailty, wearable, health services

scholarly journals Developing a sensor-based mobile application for in-home frailty assessment: a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela D. Blinka ◽  
Brian Buta ◽  
Kevin D. Bader ◽  
Casey Hanley ◽  
Nancy L. Schoenborn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Data Management ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Adult Care ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Frailty Status ◽  
Frailty Assessment

Abstract Background Frailty syndrome disproportionately affects older people, including 15% of non-nursing home population, and is known to be a strong predictor of poor health outcomes. There is a growing interest in incorporating frailty assessment into research and clinical practice, which may provide an opportunity to improve in home frailty assessment and improve doctor patient communication. Methods We conducted focus groups discussions to solicit input from older adult care recipients (non-frail, pre-frail, and frail), their informal caregivers, and medical providers about their preferences to tailor a mobile app to measure frailty in the home using sensor based technologies. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically. Results We identified three major themes: 1) perspectives of frailty; 2) perceptions of home based sensors; and 3) data management concerns. These relate to the participants’ insight, attitudes and concerns about having sensor-based technology to measure frailty in the home. Our qualitative findings indicate that knowing frailty status is important and useful and would allow older adults to remain independent longer. Participants also noted concerns with data management and the hope that this technology would not replace in-person visits with their healthcare provider. Conclusions This study found that study participants of each frailty status expressed high interest and acceptance of sensor-based technologies. Based on the qualitative findings of this study, sensor-based technologies show promise for frailty assessment of older adults with care needs. The main concerns identified related to the volume of data collected and strategies for responsible and secure transfer, reporting, and distillation of data into useful and timely care information. Sensor-based technologies should be piloted for feasibility and utility. This will inform the larger goal of helping older adults to maintain independence while tracking potential health declines, especially among the most vulnerable, for early detection and intervention. Keywords: Frailty, wearable, health services.

scholarly journals A MULTI-SITE PROGRAM TO PROVIDE GERIATRICS TELECONSULTATION TO OLDER RURAL VETERANS (GRECC CONNECT)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S608-S608
Author(s):  
William Hung ◽  
Steven Barczi ◽  
cathleen Colon-Emeric ◽  
Michelle Rossi ◽  
Stuti Dang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Adult Care ◽  
Research Education ◽  
Team Care ◽  
Geriatric Consultation ◽  
Need Support ◽  
Rural Clinics ◽  
Geriatric Research

Abstract Older Veterans living in rural areas often do not have access to geriatrics team care; rural frontline providers and teams may need support to address the needs of older adults with complex chronic conditions. GRECC Connect aims to link up geriatric teams at Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) and rural clinics to provide geriatric consultation remotely through clinical video telehealth (CVT) and other means. GRECC Connect is established in twelve GRECCs across the country with links to rural clinics in their catchment area; consultations led to identification and meeting of care needs of older adults with complex conditions, improving medication use and reducing older adults’ need for travel to long distances for consultation. In this presentation, we review the experience of establishing connections with rural clinics, impact on older adult care and adaptations needed to address local needs and contexts.

scholarly journals OPERATIONALIZING THE FRAILTY INDEX BASED ON WEARABLE SENSOR TO ASSESS FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN OLDER ADULTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S680-S680
Author(s):  
Hung Nguyen ◽  
Jacqueline Yang ◽  
Mohsen Zahiri ◽  
Bijan Najafi
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Grip Strength ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Functional Performance ◽  
Frailty Index ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Wearable Sensor ◽  
Frailty Status ◽  
Frailty Assessment ◽  
Flexion And Extension

Abstract Frailty status is a well-known predictor of adverse health outcomes and functional performance. An assessment tool based on a wearable sensor was developed to quickly assess frailty using an upper extremity flexion and extension test. However, the current tool has relied on conventional frailty assessment to classify the frailty status of the participant. The aim of this study is to operationalize the frailty index based on wearable sensor to classify frailty status of older adults. 104 older adults were recruited for the study (age=78.6 ±9.7 years old). Participants were asked to perform a quick 20-second upper flexion and extension task while wearing a gyroscope on the wrist. A sensor-based frailty index (FI) was derived using parameters extracted from the sensor. Participants were also assessed using the Fried Phenotype Criteria (FC) and were classified into three groups: robust, pre-frail, and frail. Mean-shift clustering algorithm was used to operationalize the FI by identifying the cut-off point for each group. Grip strength and physical activity level were used as functional outcome measures. Regression analysis (r) was used to compare the correlation of the FC and FI with the identified metrics. Bivariate analysis show that grip strength was highly associated with the sensor-based frailty classification (r=-0.547) and FC (r =-0.503). The sensor-based classification was significantly associated with walking activity (r=-0.355). The results showed that the sensor-based frailty assessment tool could be used to quickly classify frailty status in older adults and eliminated the need for subjective and time-consuming evaluation.

Feasibility of Real-Time Behavior Monitoring in Czech Older Adults (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steriani Elavsky
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Compliance Rate ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Time Behavior ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
Behavior Monitoring ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
System Usability Scale

BACKGROUND Czech older adults have lower rates of physical activity than the population average and lag behind in the use of digital technologies even when compared to their peers from other European countries. OBJECTIVE The study objective was to assess the feasibility of intensive behavior monitoring through technology in Czech adults aged 50 years and older. METHODS Participants (N=30, M age = 61.2, SD = 6.8, range 50-74, 53% male, 23% retired) were monitored for 12 weeks while wearing a Fitbit Charge 2 monitor and completed three 8 day bursts of intensive data collection through surveys presented on a custom-made mobile app. Online surveys were also completed before and at the end of the 12-week period (along with post-study focus groups) to evaluate participant perceptions of their experience in the study. RESULTS All 30 participants completed the study. Across the three 8-day bursts, participants completed 1454 out of 1744 surveys administered three times per day at a pseudo-random schedule (83% compliance rate), 451 out of 559 end-of-day surveys (81% compliance rate), and additionally self-reported 736 episodes of planned physical activity (with 4% of the reports initiated but returned without data). Overall rating of using the mobile app and Fitbit was above average (74.5 out of 100 on the System Usability Scale). The majority reported the Fitbit (90%) and the application (84%) were easy to use and rated their experience positively (83%). Focus groups revealed that some surveys were missed due to notifications not being noticed or that participants would need a longer time window for survey completion. Some found wearing of the monitor in hot weather or at night uncomfortable, but overall participants were highly motivated to complete the surveys and to be compliant with the study procedures. CONCLUSIONS The use of a mobile survey app coupled with a wearable device appears feasible for use with Czech older adults. Participants in this study tolerated the intensive assessment schedule well but lower compliance may be expected in studies of more diverse groups of older adults. Some difficulty was noted with pairing and synchronization of devices with some types of smartphones, posing challenges for large-scale studies.

Physical Frailty and Future Costs of Long-Term Care in Older Adults: Results from the NCGG-SGS

Gerontology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Hyuma Makizako ◽  
Hiroyuki Shimada ◽  
Kota Tsutsumimoto ◽  
Keitaro Makino ◽  
Sho Nakakubo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Physical Frailty ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Frailty Phenotype ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Frailty Status ◽  
Community Dwelling Older Adults

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Frailty is associated with adverse outcomes, but few studies have determined associations between the frailty phenotype and measures of healthcare burden, including long-term care insurance (LTCI) costs, in older community-dwelling populations. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of this study was to examine the association between frailty status and subsequent LTCI costs in Japanese community-dwelling older adults. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The prospective data were from a cohort study (National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology-Study of Geriatric Syndromes [NCGG-SGS]). The participants were community-dwelling older adults (mean age 71.8 years, women 50.7%) participating in an NCGG-SGS baseline examination held between August 2011 and February 2012 in Obu, Japan (<i>N</i> = 4,539). At baseline, we assessed the physical frailty phenotype using the Japanese version of the CHS criteria and categorized it as robust, pre-frail, or frail. We also ascertained care-needs certification and total costs using long-term care services in Japan’s public LTCI system during the 29 months. <b><i>Results:</i></b> During the 29-month follow-up period, 239 participants (5.3%) required the LTCI system’s care-needs certification and 163 participants (3.6%) used LTCI services. Participants classified as frail (odds ratio 5.85, 95% confidence interval 3.54–9.66) or pre-frail (2.40, 1.58–3.66) at the baseline assessment had an increased risk of requiring care-needs certification compared with robust participants. The mean total costs for LTCI services during the 29 months were ¥6,434 ($63.1) for robust, ¥19,324 ($189.5) for pre-frail, and ¥147,718 ($1,448.2) for frail participants (1 US dollar = 102 Japanese yen in July 2014). There were significantly higher costs associated with advancing frailty status. Individual frailty components (slowness, weakness, exhaustion, low activity, and weight loss) were also associated with higher total costs for using LTCI services. <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> Frail community-dwelling older adults had a higher risk of requiring the LTCI system’s care-needs certification and the subsequent total LTCI costs.

E-Health for Older Adults

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy L. Mitzner ◽  
Katinka Dijkstra
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Health Care Needs ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Older Users ◽  
The Impact

Health care related technology, or E-health, has the potential to lessen the impact of the growing aging population on the health care system, at the same time supporting aging in place. However, for technologies to be developed that are adopted by older users, research is needed to capture a thorough picture of older adults’ unique health care needs. Specifically directed toward older users, this chapter will demonstrate the need for user centered design, discuss technology acceptance, and describe studies that employed systematic subjective methods such as focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires to provide a rich, detailed depiction of older users’ interactions with E-health.

scholarly journals Lack of Coordination between Health Care and Social Care in Multi-Professional Teamwork - the Obstacle for Coherent Care of Older People Suffering from Multi-Morbidity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Melin Emilsson ◽  
Anna-Lena Strid ◽  
Maria Söderberg
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Older People ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Social Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Frail Older People ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Coordination And Collaboration

Abstract The lack of a cohesive health and social care is a well-known problem of significance for ageing people in general and frail older people in particular. Responsibility for organising and conducting social care and healthcare for the elderly rests on different principals in different countries but difficulties with organisational coordination and collaboration between professions and authorities in social care and healthcare is an extensive concern worldwide. Regardless of the distribution of responsibilities, collaboration and coordination structures are complex and often lead to problems. However, the gap in the coordination between different organisations and the collaboration between professions, implying that frail older people with major care needs still living in their own homes are pinched, has received hardly any recognition. By closely following an implementation project focused on teamwork in order to improve collaboration and coordination between social care and healthcare, the purpose of this article is to fill this gap with the help of an example from Sweden. Data consisted of event diaries, observations, focus groups, structured questionnaires and interviews. Findings showed that multi-professional teams certainly were established, but did not work or last. Among the obstacles found the most prominent features were the various professions’ own organisations, territorial thinking and rivalries. The whole idea of the initiative to achieve a cohesive healthcare and social care for ageing frail older people fell through. By letting this happen, not only did the project hinder the development of better practice in serving older adults, but also cemented the problematic structures it was intended to dissolve.

Servicing the Senior Swallow: A Family-Centered Private Practice Model of Service Delivery

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvette M. McCoy
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Swallowing Disorders ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Skilled Nursing ◽  
Person Centered Care ◽  
Centered Care ◽  
Traditional Medical Model

Purpose Person-centered care shifts the focus of treatment away from the traditional medical model and moves toward personal choice and autonomy for people receiving health services. Older adults remain a priority for person-centered care because they are more likely to have complex care needs than younger individuals. Even more specifically, the assessment and treatment of swallowing disorders are often thought of in terms of setting-specific (i.e., acute care, skilled nursing, home health, etc.), but the management of dysphagia in older adults should be considered as a continuum of care from the intensive care unit to the outpatient multidisciplinary clinic. In order to establish a framework for the management of swallowing in older adults, clinicians must work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team using current evidence to guide clinical practice. Private practitioners must think critically not only about the interplay between the components of the evidence-based practice treatment triad but also about the broader impact of dysphagia on caregivers and families. The physical health and quality of life of both the caregiver and the person receiving care are interdependent. Conclusion Effective treatment includes consideration of not only the patient but also others, as caregivers play an important role in the recovery process of the patient with swallowing disorders.

Focus Groups With Older Adults

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Jutta E. Ataie ◽  
David L. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Focus Groups
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