scholarly journals System Architecture of Unobtrusive Sensors for Supporting Home Care and Independet Living

Author(s):  
Cvetko Pirš ◽  
Boris Cigale ◽  
Damjan Zazula ◽  
Dejan Usar

The paper deals with an implementation of unobtrusive sensors installed in home environment for continuous monitoring of functional-health parameters of the observed persons. A multi-tier architecture links sensory devices through sensor-data concentrators to a home server. Automated sensory measurements are supported by a concept of sensoractivated events, event-driven data transmission and processing by a dedicated application interface. Its logic and data structures are revealed. Examples of three typical execution scenarios are given and a short description depicts clinical installation of proposed system for testing purposes.

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (06) ◽  
pp. 516-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margriet Pol ◽  
Bianca Buurman ◽  
Ben Kröse ◽  
Saskia Robben

Summary Background: ICT based solutions are increasingly introduced for active and healthy ageing. In this context continuous monitoring of older adults with domestic sensor systems has been suggested to provide important information about their functional health. However, there is not yet a solid model for the interpretation of the sensor data. Objectives: The aim of our study is to define a set of predictors of functional health that can be measured with domestic sensors and to determine thresholds that identify relevant changes in these predictors. Methods: On the basis of literature we develop a model that relates functional health predictors to features derived from sensor data. The parameters of this model are determined on the basis of a study among health experts (n = 38). The use of the full model is illustrated with three cases. Results: We identified 25 predictors and their attributes. For 12 of them that can be measured with passive infrared motion sensors we determined their parameters: the attribute thresholds and the urgency thresholds. Conclusions: With the parametrized predictors in the model, domestic sensors can be deployed to assess functional health in a standardized way. Three case examples showed how the model can be used as a screening instrument for functional decline.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-321
Author(s):  
A. B. Bergman ◽  
H. Shrand ◽  
T. E. Oppé

RECENT YEARS have seen a resurgence of interest in organized Home Care programs as a variety of factors have spurred the search for alternatives to hospital care. Chief among them has been the economic burden of spiraling hospital costs. Many programs have been devised to enable chronically ill persons in the older age group—the "home-bound" geriatric patient—to be supervised in their own homes. There are, however, special reasons for attempting to control the admission of children to hospitals. Illness is a time when a child becomes more dependent than usual and seems to need the security of parents and the comfort of familiar home environment. Even though enlightened hospitals now encourage visiting, many parents cannot take advantage of this for such reasons as distance and having to care for the other children at home. There is debate as to the amount of emotional harm caused by hospitalization of small children; most workers would say it does no good, and, in some cases, can lead to serious sequelae. The Home Care Program for sick children at St. Mary's Hospital in London was started in April, 1954. One of us (A.B.B.) had the opportunity of participating in this program in 1961 while serving as an Exchange Registrar from Children's Hospital (Boston). It is felt that even though conditions in the United States and Great Britain may be different, there are enough similarities to make a descriptive account of the program of interest to American physicians. The Development of Home Care Schemes Historically, doctors looked after the sick in their own homes when private fees could be afforded.


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liat Ayalon ◽  
Daniela Fialová ◽  
Patricia A. Areán ◽  
Graziano Onder

ABSTRACTBackground: Home care for older adults is a common phenomenon worldwide because it allows older adults to remain in their home environment. Research has shown that depression is frequently found in older recipients of home care services. Nonetheless, it is often poorly recognized and treated. Untreated or poorly treated depression in older home care recipients has been associated with a variety of negative outcomes, including increased morbidity and mortality, greater likelihood of nursing home institutionalization and higher caregiver distress.Methods: The present review outlines some of the challenges associated with appropriate recognition and treatment of depression in older home care recipients.Results: Our review demonstrates that more aggressive management of depressive symptoms and the employment of an interdiciplinary team can result in beneficial outcomes.Conclusions: Further research is needed, especially in the area of psychotherapeutic interventions as these should be flexible enough to meet the unique and evolving needs of this frail population of older adults.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 958-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashraf Salem ◽  
Osama Moselhi

Continuous monitoring of productivity and assessment of its variations are crucial processes that significantly contribute to success of earthmoving projects. Numerous factors may lead to productivity variations. However, these factors are subjectively identified using manual knowledge-based expert judgment. Such manual recognition process is not only subject to errors but also time-consuming. There is a lack of research work that focuses on near real-time assessment of productivity variation and its effect on cost, schedule and effective utilization of resources in earthmoving projects. This paper presents a customized multi-source automated data acquisition model that acquires data from a variety of wireless sensing technologies. The acquired multi-sensor data are transmitted to a central MySQL database. Then a newly developed data fusion algorithm is applied for truck state recognition, and hence the duration of each earthmoving state. Multi-sensor data fusion facilitates measurement of actual productivity, and consequently the assessment of productivity ratios that support continuous monitoring of productivity variation in earthmoving operations. The developed tracking and monitoring model generates an early warning that supports proactive decisions to avoid schedule delays, cost overruns, and inefficient depletion of resources. A case study is used to reveal the applicability of the proposed model in monitoring and assessing actual productivity and its deviations from planned productivity. Finally, results are discussed and conclusions are drawn highlighting the features of the proposed model.


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