Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
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reinforcement of the safety measures inside the home (e.g. lock of the exit door and of the windows;
lock of the pieces of furniture where dangerous items and substances are stored);
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calls to relatives or to care givers;
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targeted stimulation with stimuli that are known to capture Jim's attention and to calm him down (e.g.
pictures of family members or other images, or music).
2.3.1.
Physical activity
Physical activity is important to maintain a healthy life, in such it is important the
context of prevention. Currently this is part of healthcare but is considered important as
wellness activity. For fitness and sport monitoring of activities in combination with
training schedules are available also for the consumer market; examples are Nike in
combination with iPod, Polar and Philips Direct Life. Some systems (e.g. Direct Life)
make use of goal setting and coaching to achieve these goals and maintain motivation.
Physical activity is not typically measured in clinical care. Healthcare
professionals usually focus on the disability that is experienced rather than on the
potential rest ability. Furthermore, physical activity is assessed mostly subjectively by
means of questionnaires. An objective measurement of physical activity is possible
with accelerometers, for instance. Triaxial accelerometers can be used to measure daily
activities, such as standing, walking, ascending and descending stairs and cycling.
Using the collected information in combination with monitored vital signs (weight,
blood pressure, heart rate, SpO2), health care applications (physiotherapists, dieticians)
for instance persons with overweight, cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes or COPD.
With specific sensors on limbs and torso and proper feedback it can even be used to
monitor rehabilitation exercises.
Close to the activity monitoring it is also the aspect of motivating users to
undertake exercises; research is needed on user interface design, to build on strategies
that are known to motivate behaviour change using just-in-time information. A relevant
application in this field relates to the recognition of a patient's patterns of activity, and
on the subsequent suggestion of specific behaviour and exercises for self-management
of the health condition.
To monitor activities of daily life (ADL) gives a good insight in the mental
condition of a person and can signal cognitive decline before real problems occur. As
such it is important to prevent incidents and links also to safety.
2.3.2.
Mental activity
Mental activity is currently promoted by all kind of games (stand-alone as well as
online); the results of the exercises are however not yet linked into healthcare
applications to manage the development of a cognitive disease. Also specific devices
like cognitive and companion robots could play a role in this.
An increasing number of pilot experiences, in which animaloids and other
companion robots were investigated as potentially useful agents for the care of older
people, has been documented in the scientific literature during the last five years. It is
in fact a wide and articulated domain of applications for robotics, as demonstrated by
the large number of different projects and pilots developed by researchers, mostly in
Japan and in the USA.
Two different paradigms play an important role in this domain: Ubiquitous
Robotics (Jong-Hwan, 2005) (Jong-Hwan, 2007) and Relational Artefacts (also named
Sociable Robots) (Turkle, 2006), the first one concerning especially the investigation of
