Authors:
Stefan Lentelink
1
;
Monique Tabak
2
;
Boris van Schooten
1
;
Dennis Hofs
1
;
Harm op den Akker
1
and
Hermie Hermens
2
Affiliations:
1
Roessingh Research and Development, Netherlands
;
2
Roessingh Research and Development and University of Twente, Netherlands
Keyword(s):
Dementia, Informal Caregiver, Aging in Place, eHealth, Health Informatics, Ambient Assisted Living, Remote Home Monitoring.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Biomedical Engineering
;
Cloud Computing
;
e-Health
;
Health Information Systems
;
ICT, Ageing and Disability
;
Pervasive Health Systems and Services
;
Platforms and Applications
;
Telemedicine
Abstract:
Informal caregivers of people with dementia have a high risk of becoming overburdened. Health informatics
for aging in place can provide them support by deploying unobtrusive remote home monitoring systems to
assess real-time events and monitor changes in the behavior of the person with dementia (PwD). In this paper,
we describe the concept, development, and evaluation of an intelligent remote Home Monitoring System
(HMS) that provides support to informal caregivers by giving key information related to the health and
independent living of the PwD. The HMS consists of a Sensor System that monitors low-level behaviors of
the PwD, a Decision Support System that translates this into high-level behaviors, and a connected
Smartphone Application that allows the caregiver to receive notifications, review behavioral information at a
glance, and facilitates the collaborative care process between informal caregivers. The final HMS prototype
was evaluated and scored high in terms of usa
bility and quality of the Smartphone Application. The Sensor
System showed no significant flaws during testing, and the Decision Support System is considered a viable
proof of concept. The next step is to evaluate the HMS in a real-life setting in terms of offering peace of mind
and reducing the burden of care.
(More)