scholarly journals Serious Motion-Based Exercise Games for Older Adults: Evaluation of Usability, Performance, and Pain Mitigation

10.2196/14182 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e14182
Author(s):  
Philipp Brauner ◽  
Martina Ziefle
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Demographic Shift ◽  
Performance Effect

Background Many societies are facing demographic changes that challenge the viability of health and welfare systems. Serious games for health care and ambient assisted living (AAL) offer health benefits and support for older adults and may mitigate some of the negative effects of the demographic shift. Objective This study aimed to examine the acceptance of serious games to promote physical health in AAL environments. Since AAL environments are designed specifically to support independent living in older adults, we studied the relationship among age and user diversity, performance in the game, and overall usability and acceptance evaluation. Methods We developed a motion-based serious exercise game for prototypical AAL environments. In two evaluations, outside (n=71) and within (n=64) the AAL environment, we investigated the influence of age, gender, self-efficacy in interacting with technology, need for achievement on performance, effect of the game, usability evaluation of the game, and overall acceptance. Results Both games were evaluated as easy to use and fun to play. Both game interventions had a strong pain-mitigating effect in older adults (game 1: −55%, P=.002; game 2: −66%, P=.01). Conclusions Serious exercise games outside and inside AAL environments can contribute to individuals’ health and well-being and to the stability of health care systems.

scholarly journals Mitigation of Perceived Pain in Older Adults by Serious Motion-Based Exercise Games (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Brauner ◽  
Martina Ziefle
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Demographic Shift ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Performance Effect ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Living Environments

UNSTRUCTURED Many societies face a demographic change that challenges the viability of health and welfare systems. Serious Games for Healthcare as well as Ambient Assisted Living offer support and health benefits for older adults and mitigate the negative effects of the demographic shift. We developed a motion-based serious exercise game for older adults in prototypic Ambient Assisted Living environments. In two user studies outside (n=69) and within (n=64) the AAL context we studied the influence of age, gender, self-efficacy in interacting with technology, and need for achievement on performance, effect of the game, evaluation of the game, and overall acceptance. Both games were evaluated as easy to use and fun to play. Remarkably, both game interventions had a strong pain mitigating effect in older adults (-55%; -66%). Consequently, serious exercise games outside and inside Ambient Assisted Living environments can contribute to individuals' health and well-being and to the stability of health care systems.

An Ambient Assisted Living platform for supporting aging in place of pre-frail and frail older adults: Rationale, HomeAssist plaform, quasi-experimental design, and baseline characteristics. (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
helene sauzeon ◽  
Arlette Edjolo ◽  
Hélène Amieva ◽  
Charles Consel ◽  
Karine Pérès
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Everyday Functioning ◽  
Frail Older Adults ◽  
Outcomes Measures ◽  
Quasi Experimental

UNSTRUCTURED Background: Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technology is expected as a promising way for prolonging the aging in place. Very few evidence-based results are provided support to its real value, notably for frail older adults who have high risk of autonomy loss and of entering in nursing home. Objective: HomeAssist (HA) is a human-centered AAL platform offering a large set of applications for three main age-related need domains (Activities of Daily Living, Safety and Social participation), relying on a basic set of entities (sensors, actuators...). The HA intervention involves monitoring as well as assistive services to support independent living at home. The primary outcomes measures are related to aging in place in terms of effectiveness (institutionalization and hospitalization rates) and efficiency (everyday functioning indices). Secondary outcomes measures include indices of frailty, cognitive functioning, and psychosocial health of participants and their caregivers. Every 6 months, user experience and attitudes towards HA are also collected in equipped participants. Concomitantly, HA usages are collected. Methods: A study assessing the HA efficacy has been designed and is now conducted with 131 older adults aged 81.9 (±6.0) years (from autonomous to frail) who lived alone. The study design is quasi-experimental with a duration of 12 months optionally extensible to 24 months. It includes equipped participants, matched with non-equipped participants (n= 474). Follow-up assessments occurred at 0, 12 and 24 months. Results: The expected results are to inform the AAL value for independent living, but also to yield informed analysis on AAL usages and adoption in frail older individuals.

Improving Primary Health Care for Residents Living in Assisted Living: Evidence for Practice and Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Patricia Cann ◽  
Rose McCloskey
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Health Care Reforms ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Primary Health

ABSTRACT The fact that there is a large and growing number of older Canadians has generated a sense of urgency in improving seniors’ access to health and long-term care services. Many provincial health care systems have engaged in a range of reforms to help older adults remain healthy and independent. Although many transformational changes have taken place across Canada to improve primary care, variations exist across provinces and territories in terms of older adults’ access to primary health care. Opportunities exist for provinces to learn from successful reforms implemented in other Canadian jurisdictions. Residents of assisted living (AL) facilities are an ideal group to whom to target primary health care reforms, given the important role these facilities play in the care continuum and the complex needs of their residents. Allowing practitioners to practice to their full scope and assume greater responsibility within the health care system is a strategy adopted in some jurisdictions with success. This article reports on reforms that have been made to expand the scopes of practice of nurse practitioners and paramedics in some provinces, but also have the potential to improve access to primary health care for those living in AL across the entire country, including those living in smaller provinces such as New Brunswick.

scholarly journals Age-sensitive eHealth Applications in Smart Homes

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiktoria Wilkowska ◽  
Philipp Brauner ◽  
Martina Ziefle
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Living ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Smart Homes ◽  
Chronically Ill ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Demographic Shift ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
The Future

Based on the demographic shift and the related challenges resulting from the growing number of elderly and persons with chronic diseases, the idea of smart home that supports its inhabitants in the daily life, gains importance. The purpose of this paper was to examine in a prototypic Ambient Assisted Living environment if users after interaction with different health-supporting applications intend to use such in the future. Two experimental studies exemplary show possible applications of home-integrated technology that can support, assist and accompany the target group in different contexts, and examine to what extent participants are willing to future use such sophisticated technology at home. The results show that people in general, but especially the old and chronically ill ones are quite fascinated of health-supporting ambient technology and the majority intends to use such ambient assistance in the future (study I). Moreover, serious games for healthcare are shown as a hedonic use of technology in smart homes that have a great potential to retain or improve the physical health, mobility and the overall well-being of the inhabitants (study II). The article provides two examples of ambient technology to leverage the demographic change and presents important user factors for facilitating high user acceptance.

scholarly journals Dementia Care, Fall Detection, and Ambient-Assisted Living Technologies Help Older Adults Age in Place: A Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 073346482110058
Author(s):  
Cameron J. Gettel ◽  
Kevin Chen ◽  
Elizabeth M. Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Full Text ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Fall Detection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Dementia Care

Objectives: We aimed to describe recent technologic advances in the three domains of dementia care, falls, and home supports; summarize existing literature on usability; and identify knowledge gaps. Methods: A comprehensive search of five databases for recent peer-reviewed publications was conducted in May 2020. Independent reviewers performed title/abstract review, full-text screening, data extraction, and study characteristic summarization. Results: Out of 2,696 citations, 151 articles were retrieved for full-text evaluation, after which 54 studies were included in this scoping review. For each domain, different technologies are available to enhance the health and well-being of older adults; many users deemed them usable and useful. Technologies targeted improving function, psychosocial and cognitive status, home safety, and caregiver burden. Barriers to widespread uptake include privacy concerns, suboptimal user experience, and willingness to accept assistance. Conclusion: Technologic innovations directed toward dementia care, fall detection, and ambient-assisted living can aid older adults “aging in place.”

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of Robotics Research in Support of In-Home Care for Older Adults

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anas Abou Allaban ◽  
Maozhen Wang ◽  
Taşkın Padır
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Physical Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Support Tools ◽  
Robotic Devices ◽  
Meta Analyses

The aging population is growing at an unprecedented rate globally and robotics-enabled solutions are being developed to provide better independent living for older adults. In this study, we report the results from a systematic review of the state-of-the-art in home robotics research for caring for older adults. This review aims to address two questions: (1) What research is being done towards integrating robotics for caring for older adults? (2) What are the research and technology challenges that robots are facing in the home? Sixty-three papers have been identified and studied in this review by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Common themes that are consistent across the reviewed papers are distinguished and consolidated as follows: (1) Ambient assisted living, where smart home environments and physical support tools are studied; (2) Robot ecosystem, where robotic devices are used to provide various services; (3) Social interaction, where the social isolation problem has been targeted. We also summarize the results of similar literature reviews we came across during our search. The results of this study present the current research trends and technologies used in each category. The challenges and limitations of robotics applications are also identified. Suggestions for accelerating the deployment of robots at home for providing older adults with independent care in the home are presented based on the results and insights from this study.

scholarly journals From Bed to Bench: Bridging from Informatics Practice to Theory

2014 ◽  
Vol 05 (04) ◽  
pp. 907-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.U. Lehmann ◽  
R. Haux
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Scientific Discipline ◽  
Clinical Informatics ◽  
Theory To Practice

SummaryBackground: In 2009, Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI) – focused on applications in clinical informatics – was launched as a companion journal to Methods of Information in Medicine (MIM). Both journals are official journals of the International Medical Informatics Association.Objectives: To explore which congruencies and interdependencies exist in publications from theory to practice and from practice to theory and to determine existing gaps. Major topics discussed in ACI and MIM were analyzed. We explored if the intention of publishing companion journals to provide an information bridge from informatics theory to informatics practice and vice versa could be supported by this model. In this manuscript we will report on congruencies and interdependences from practice to theory and on major topics in MIM.Methods: Retrospective, prolective observational study on recent publications of ACI and MIM. All publications of the years 2012 and 2013 were indexed and analyzed.Results: Hundred and ninety-six publications were analyzed (ACI 87, MIM 109). In MIM publications, modelling aspects as well as methodological and evaluation approaches for the analysis of data, information, and knowledge in biomedicine and health care were frequently raised – and often discussed from an interdisciplinary point of view. Important themes were ambient-assisted living, anatomic spatial relations, biomedical informatics as scientific discipline, boosting, coding, computerized physician order entry, data analysis, grid and cloud computing, health care systems and services, health-enabling technologies, health information search, health information systems, imaging, knowledge-based decision support, patient records, signal analysis, and web science. Congruencies between journals could be found in themes, but with a different focus on content. Interdependencies from practice to theory, found in these publications, were only limited.Conclusions: Bridging from informatics theory to practice and vice versa remains a major component of successful research and practice as well as a major challenge.Citation: Haux R, Lehmann CU. From bed to bench: Bridging from informatics practice to theory – an exploratory analysis. Appl Clin Inf 2014; 5: 907–915http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2014-10-RA-0095

scholarly journals Smart Homes and Ambient Assisted Living Applications: From Data to KnowledgeEmpowering or Overwhelming Older Adults?

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (01) ◽  
pp. 51-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Thompson ◽  
G. Demiris
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Personal Health Record ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Health Record ◽  
Meaningful Information

SummaryAs health care systems face limited resources and workforce shortages to address the complex needs of older adult populations, innovative approaches utilizing information technology can support aging. Smart Home and Ambient Assisted Living (SHAAL) systems utilize advanced and ubiquitous technologies including sensors and other devices that are integrated in the residential infrastructure or wearable, to capture data describing activities of daily living and health related events. This paper highlights how data from SHAAL systems can lead to information and knowledge that ultimately improves clinical outcomes and quality of life for older adults as well as quality of health care services.We conducted are view of personal health record applications specifically for older adults and approaches to using information to improve elder care. We present a framework that show cases how data captured from SHAAL systems can be processed to provide meaningful information that becomes part of a personal health record.Synthesis and visualization of information resulting from SHAAL systems can lead to knowledge and support education, delivery of tailored interventions and if needed, transitions in care. Such actions can involve multiple stakeholders as part of shared decision making.SHAAL systems have the potential to support aging and improve quality of life and decision making for older adults and their families. The framework presented in this paper demonstrates how emphasis needs to be placed into extracting meaningful information from new innovative systems that will support decision making. The challenge for informatics designers and researchers is to facilitate an evolution of SHAAL systems expanding beyond demonstration projects to actual interventions that will improve health care for older adults.

Ambient Assisted Living Systems: The Scope of Research and Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Ashish D Patel ◽  
Jigarkumar H. Shah
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Living ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Intelligent Systems ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Ambient Assisted Living ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Aged Population ◽  
The People ◽  
Living Person

The aged population of the world is increasing by a large factor due to the availability of medical and other facilities. As the number grows rapidly, requirements of this segment of age (65+) are increasing rapidly as well as the percentage of aged persons living alone is also increasing with the same rate due to the inevitable socio-economic changes. This situation demands the solution of many problems like loneliness, chronic conditions, social interaction, transportation, day-to-day life and many more for independent living person. A large part of aged population may not be able to interact directly with new technologies. This sought some serious development towards the use of intelligent systems i.e. smart devices which helps the people with their inability to use the available as well future solutions. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is the answer to these problems. In this paper, issues related to AAL systems are studied. Study of challenges and limitations of this comparatively new field will help the designers to remove the barriers of AAL systems.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document