Watching over me: positive, negative and neutral perceptions of in-home monitoring held by independent-living older residents in an Australian pilot study

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 1377-1398 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANA KAI BRADFORD ◽  
YASMIN VAN KASTEREN ◽  
QING ZHANG ◽  
MOHAN KARUNANITHI
Keyword(s):  
Independent Living ◽  
Government Expenditure ◽  
Home Monitoring ◽  
Smart Homes ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Peace Of Mind ◽  
Human Element ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
High Government

ABSTRACTWith an increase in the proportion of Australians aged over 65, and high government expenditure on residential care, there is a strong imperative to find smart, safe solutions to support older people to stay in their own homes. There is a growing interest in Australia for assistive technologies that provide home monitoring to promote health and wellbeing. This solution will only be viable if it meets with the expectations of older residents and their families. In the first smart homes pilot in Australia, we sought to ascertain barriers and facilitators of this technology. There was an overall positive response to the system, despite a slight tendency for residents to modify their behaviour due to perceived surveillance. Positive outcomes included increases in family communication, health autonomy and advances in technology uptake. Our findings suggest that a combination of considered placement of in-home technology, straightforward medical devices and a supportive human element will ensure that the technology meets the balance of service provision and preservation of dignity. Smart homes could mitigate the challenges associated with aged care while affording peace of mind for seniors and families.

Early Illness Recognition Using In-home Monitoring Sensors and Multiple Instance Learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (04) ◽  
pp. 359-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mahnot ◽  
M. Popescu
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Characteristic Curve ◽  
Home Monitoring ◽  
Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve ◽  
Multiple Instance Learning ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Abnormal Behavior ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Peace Of Mind

SummaryBackground: Many older adults in the US prefer to live independently for as long as they are able, despite the onset of conditions such as frailty and dementia. Solutions are needed to enable independent living, while enhancing safety and peace of mind for their families. Elderly patients are particularly at-risk for late assessment of cognitive changes.Objectives: We predict early signs of illness in older adults by using the data generated by a continuous, unobtrusive nursing home monitoring system.Methods: We describe the possibility of employing a multiple instance learning (MIL) framework for early illness detection. The MIL framework is suitable for training classifiers when the available data presents temporal or location uncertainties.Results: We provide experiments on three datasets that prove the utility of the MIL framework. We first tuned our algorithms on a set of 200 normal/abnormal behavior patterns produced by a dedicated simulator. We then conducted two retrospective studies on residents from the Tiger Place aging in place facility, aged over 70, which have been monitored with motion and bed sensors for over two years. The presence or absence of the illness was manually assessed based on the nursing visit reports.Conclusions: The use of simulated sensor data proved to be very useful for algorithm development and testing. The results obtained using MIL for six Tiger Place residents, an average area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AROC) of 0.7, are promising. However, more sophisticated MIL classifiers are needed to improve the performance.

scholarly journals Educating social workers for the demographic imperative

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 400 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T McCormack
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Carer Support ◽  
Workforce Needs

Our health system aims to restore, maintain and improve the independent function of all Australians and so our health workforce needs to have the knowledge, skills and abilities to achieve this task. As older people are already significant users of the health system, and will increase in the future due to population ageing, our workforce should be trained to deal with the age-related health and social needs required to achieve independent living for older Australians. Social workers, like other allied health disciplines, play a key role in hospitals and community health settings in maintaining older peoples? health and wellbeing in the community, as well as carer support. This article reports on a pilot research program to look at the skills and competencies of social workers needed to provide a quality service in aged care, as well as the expansion of an educational program aimed at developing a gero-rich curriculum which enhances the gerontological competencies of social work students.

Ageing, Chronic Disease, Technology, and Smart Homes

2011 ◽  
pp. 1539-1553
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Soar
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Smart Home ◽  
Medical Technology ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Smart Homes ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Coordinated Care ◽  
Innovative Technologies

This chapter explores ageing, chronic disease, technology and social change. Healthcare has been transformed through medical technology but there is much still to be done to enable seamless exchanges between all carers, which is expected to improve safety, quality and efficiency. There is massive potential for technology to transform the experience of ageing including assisting with the management of chronic disease, coordinated care and guided self-care for consumers. Innovative technologies are increasingly available to assist in maintaining health and independent living. This includes telecare, telehealth, assistive technologies, robots and smart homes. A challenge is in providing access to and support in the use of technologies where there are clear benefits to consumers, carers, providers and funders of healthcare. The chapter also reports on the Queensland Smart Home Initiative which is one of several organisations internationally that share a mission of assisting people to be supported through these technologies.

Digitalisierung und Wohnen: das vernetzte Zuhause und individualisierte Technologien als Option für das Wohnen im Alter

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-471
Author(s):  
Rolf G. Heinze
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Smart Homes ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Scientific Fields

AbstractTerms like industry 4.0 or digital health and smart homes dominate mass media as well as many scientific fields in Germany. The digital transformation captures almost any field of life and work. The article focuses on housing and health, especially independent living in old age with the aid of assistive technologies. After overviewing the general ambivalences of digitalisation, the article discusses options and implementation projects as well as future chances of governance in this field.

Smart care technologies: Meeting whose needs?

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 190-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Six smith ◽  
Judith Six smith
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Home Monitoring ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Intelligent Home ◽  
The Way

Recent funding programmes supporting research and development in telecare have argued for a shift in perspective from a technology-driven approach to one that is needs-led. While this is in the interests of both users and technologists, achieving this goal is not straightforward. This paper outlines some of the conceptual, methodological and practical problems that potentially constrain a needs-led approach and illustrates the emergent issues with a case study of the development of an intelligent home monitoring system to support the independent living of older people. The research indicates clear differences between users and technologists in the way problems, needs and requirements are understood and defined. This in turn has consequences for the way assistive technologies are developed and implemented.

Ageing, Chronic Disease, Technology, and Smart Homes

2011 ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Soar
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Smart Home ◽  
Medical Technology ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Smart Homes ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Coordinated Care ◽  
Innovative Technologies

This chapter explores ageing, chronic disease, technology and social change. Healthcare has been transformed through medical technology but there is much still to be done to enable seamless exchanges between all carers, which is expected to improve safety, quality and efficiency. There is massive potential for technology to transform the experience of ageing including assisting with the management of chronic disease, coordinated care and guided self-care for consumers. Innovative technologies are increasingly available to assist in maintaining health and independent living. This includes telecare, telehealth, assistive technologies, robots and smart homes. A challenge is in providing access to and support in the use of technologies where there are clear benefits to consumers, carers, providers and funders of healthcare. The chapter also reports on the Queensland Smart Home Initiative which is one of several organisations internationally that share a mission of assisting people to be supported through these technologies.

scholarly journals The role of accommodation environments in student mental health and wellbeing

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne D. Worsley ◽  
Paula Harrison ◽  
Rhiannon Corcoran
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Mental Health ◽  
North West ◽  
Human Element ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Physical Attributes ◽  
Attachment To Place ◽  
Pastoral Staff

Abstract Background Due to the increasing concern over student mental health and wellbeing, attention has turned to the matter of creating environments, communities, and institutions which enable students to flourish. Methods To explore the role of accommodation environments in first year student mental health and wellbeing, eight focus groups were conducted in two universities in North West England and analysed using thematic analysis. Results Three overarching themes were identified: ‘The betwixt space’; ‘Accommodations as vessels to cultivate friendships and communities’; and ‘The importance of accommodation-based pastoral staff’. As attachment to place and relationships with significant others are disrupted by the transition, this leaves young people vulnerable whilst they go through a process to re-attach to new people and a new environment, and loneliness and social isolation were keenly felt during this period. Physical attributes of place that prevent social cohesion further exacerbated feelings of loneliness. Conclusions As it is common for students to withdraw physically and psychologically when they do not form friendships within their flat, accommodation-based pastoral staff have an important role to fulfil. Although these findings demonstrate the importance of the human element within accommodation, designing places that facilitate community, a sense of we-ness, and belonging is crucial.

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