An ICT-Driven Hybrid Automation System for Elderly Care Support: A Rehabilitation Facility Study Case

Abstract

The demographic statistics in developed countries suggest growth in the elderly segment of the population. At the same time, other studies forecast a shortage of nurses, increasing the pressure on hospitals to provide treatment for longer periods of time. These trends suggest a need for new ways of taking care of the elderly population that support safe, comfortable, and independent living. Meanwhile, prominent advances in information and communications technology (ICT) have enabled new systems that address various needs of the elderly. This article presents a case study of a rehabilitation facility located in Tampere, Finland, that uses an automation system in which ambient assisted living (AAL) and building automation (BA) system functionalities are combined. It details a field study summarizing the needs of the users, describes functional scenarios supported by the system, and reports the results of the first usability tests suggesting acceptance of a new technology by residents and caregivers. The unique combination of ambient assisted living and building automation offers a safer and more comfortable environment for the elderly as well as helps caregivers on-site in managing their workloads.

KEYWORDS:

• building automation systems
• ambient assisted living
• information and communications technology (ICT)
• elderly care
• rehabilitation facility

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ville Hämäläinen for support in both preparing and conducting the usability tests, as well as direct involvement in the work on the prototype.

Funding

This work is partially supported by the ARTEMIS First Call 2010 Program under Grant Agreement number 269334, corresponding to the project ASTUTE (Proactive decision support for data-intensive environments) and the Doctoral Programme of the President of the Tampere University of Technology.

Notes

1 Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP). Retrieved April 15, 2014, from http://www.aal-europe.eu/

2 Remote health and social care for independent living of isolated elderly with chronic conditions (REMOTE) project. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://www.remote-project.eu/

3 Smart Home for Elderly People (HOPE) project. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://www.hope-project.eu/

4 Fostering Social Interactions for a Better Life of the Elderly (FoSIBLE) project. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://fosible.eu/

5 Fraunhofer Institute of Experimental Software Engineering (Fraunhofer IESE). Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.iese.fraunhofer.de/en.html

6 Proactive assistance for critical situations—Emergency detection for senior citizens (ProAssist4Life): Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.iese.fraunhofer.de/en/customers_industries/healthcare/referenzprojekt_proassist4life.html

7 Ambient intelligence for the networked home environment (Amigo). Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://www.hitech-projects.com/euprojects/amigo/index.htm

8 Proactive decision support for data-intensive environments (ASTUTE). Retrieved June 15, 2014, from http://www.astute-project.eu/