Unobtrusive Smart Environments for Independent Living and the role of Mixed Methods in Elderly Healthcare Delivery

2015 ◽  
pp. 290-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Astaras ◽  
Hadas Lewy ◽  
Christopher James ◽  
Artem Katasonov ◽  
Detlef Ruschin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Independent Living ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Intelligent Decision ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Smart Tv ◽  
Intelligent Decision Support

In this chapter the authors describe a novel approach to healthcare delivery for the elderly as adopted by USEFIL, a research project which uses unobtrusive, multi-parametric sensor data collection to support seniors. The system is based on everyday devices such as an in-mirror camera, smart TV, wrist-mountable personal communicator and a tablet computer strategically distributed around the house. It exploits sensor data fusion, intelligent decision support for carers, remote alerting, secure data communications and storage. A combined quantitative and qualitative knowledgebase was established and analysed, target groups were established among elderly prospective users and scenarios were built around each group. Use cases have been prioritised according to quantitative functional and non-functional criteria. Our research findings suggest that an unobtrusive system such as USEFIL could potentially make a significant difference in the quality of life of elderly people, improve the focus of provided healthcare and support their daily independent living activities.

Unobtrusive Smart Environments for Independent Living and the Role of Mixed Methods in Elderly Healthcare Delivery

2017 ◽  
pp. 1307-1324
Author(s):  
Alexander Astaras ◽  
Hadas Lewy ◽  
Christopher James ◽  
Artem Katasonov ◽  
Detlef Ruschin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Independent Living ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Intelligent Decision ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Smart Tv ◽  
Intelligent Decision Support

In this chapter the authors describe a novel approach to healthcare delivery for the elderly as adopted by USEFIL, a research project which uses unobtrusive, multi-parametric sensor data collection to support seniors. The system is based on everyday devices such as an in-mirror camera, smart TV, wrist-mountable personal communicator and a tablet computer strategically distributed around the house. It exploits sensor data fusion, intelligent decision support for carers, remote alerting, secure data communications and storage. A combined quantitative and qualitative knowledgebase was established and analysed, target groups were established among elderly prospective users and scenarios were built around each group. Use cases have been prioritised according to quantitative functional and non-functional criteria. Our research findings suggest that an unobtrusive system such as USEFIL could potentially make a significant difference in the quality of life of elderly people, improve the focus of provided healthcare and support their daily independent living activities.

scholarly journals Reasoning support for risk prediction and prevention in independent living

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 361-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. MILEO ◽  
D. MERICO ◽  
R. BISIANI
Keyword(s):  
Independent Living ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Population Monitoring ◽  
Expressive Power ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Care For The Elderly ◽  
Prediction And Prevention ◽  
Correlation Rules

AbstractIn recent years there has been a growing interest in solutions for the delivery of clinical care for the elderly because of the large increase in aging population. Monitoring a patient in his home environment is necessary to ensure continuity of care in home settings, but, to be useful, this activity must not be too invasive for patients and a burden for caregivers. We prototyped a system called Secure and INDependent lIving (SINDI), focused on (a) collecting a limited amount of data about the person and the environment through Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), and (b) inferring from these data enough information to support caregivers in understanding patients' well-being and in predicting possible evolutions of their health. Our hierarchical logic-based model of health combines data from different sources, sensor data, tests results, common-sense knowledge and patient's clinical profile at the lower level, and correlation rules between health conditions across upper levels. The logical formalization and the reasoning process are based on Answer Set Programming. The expressive power of this logic programming paradigm makes it possible to reason about health evolution even when the available information is incomplete and potentially incoherent, while declarativity simplifies rules specification by caregivers and allows automatic encoding of knowledge. This paper describes how these issues have been targeted in the application scenario of the SINDI system.

scholarly journals An Intelligent System for Allocating Times to the Main Activities of Managers

Axioms ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Efrain Solares ◽  
Liliana Guerrero ◽  
Alberto Aguilera ◽  
Juana Hernández ◽  
Sandra Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Time Allocation ◽  
Intelligent System ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Intelligent Decision Support System ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Intelligent Decision ◽  
Intelligent Decision Support

Correctly allocating times to the main activities of a manager is a crucial task that directly affects the possibility of success for any company. Decision support based on state-of-the-art methods can lead to better performance in this activity. However, allocating times to managerial activities is not straightforward; the decision support should provide a flexible recommendation so the manager can make a final decision while ensuring robustness. This paper describes and assesses a novel approach where a search for the best distribution of the manager’s time is performed by an intelligent decision support system. The approach consists of eliciting manager preferences to define the value of the manager’s main activities and, by using a portfolio-like optimization based on differential evolution, obtaining the best time allocation. Aiming at applicability in practical scenarios, the approach can deal with many activities, group decisions, cope with imprecision, vagueness, ill-determination, and other types of uncertainty. We present evidence of the approach’s applicability exploiting a real case study with the participation of several managers. The approach is assessed through the satisfaction level of each manager.

Physical Activity Level and Motor Aptitude: Motor Domains and Identification Capacity of Brazilian Insufficiently Active Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Maria Andreis ◽  
Fernando de Aguiar Lemos ◽  
Lorenna Walesca de Lima Silva ◽  
Cassiana Luiza Pistorello Garcia ◽  
Gabrielli Veras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Physical Activity Level ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
General Motor ◽  
Body Scheme ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Global Coordination

Background: A decrease in the physical activity level in old age is common, which results in an increase in the number of falls and chronic conditions. Associated with that occurs the decline in motor skills as a result of the deficit in the interaction of cognitive and motor processes. Physical activity level can be associated differently with each motor domains. Objective: We analyzed the relationship between physical activity level and motor aptitude, and to identify which motor domains were most sensitive to detect insufficiently active level in older adults. Methods: Participated in the study 385 elderly people of both sexes. For the evaluation of the subjects were adopted the International Questionnaire on Physical Activity and the Motor Scale for Older Adults. Results: The majority of the elderly were active. In the comparison of motor aptitude between active and insufficiently active (IAC) elders a significant difference was found in the Global Coordination, Balance, Body Scheme and General Motor Aptitude. From the analysis of the area under the curve (AUC), we verified that these domains also were the ones that presented adequate diagnostic accuracy to identify IAC elderly. Besides that active elderly have presented the General Motor Aptitude classified within normality while the IAC below the normal. Conclusion: Our data suggest that IAC older adults present lower motor aptitude than the active elderly, especially in the domains of Global Coordination, Balance, Body Scheme and General Motor Aptitude, and that these domains were sensitive to indicate IAC older adults.

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