Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Last but not least, the demo rooms were used as living labs because the improvements
of the services were carried out in parallel with the pilot operation and in all cases the
improvements were first applied and proofed in the demo machines, and then
transferred to the home installations of the test users
In August 2010 the partners had a meeting to discuss experiences from the small scale pilot
operation and how to make the transition to the full scale pilot operation more efficiently. In
this way, the full pilot operation started in September 2010 and continued until the end of
the project (August 2011).
To evaluate the effects of using the services in real-life, we followed overall assessment
framework and carried out 15-month controlled study in the four European regions
involving 71 elderly, 71 informal care-givers and around 15 formal care-givers, assessing
baseline and final status of cognitive impairments, daily functioning and quality of life of
the older adults. For the informal care-givers, quality of life and care stress were assessed. In
the end of the controlled study, all groups were asked to evaluate their satisfaction and
acceptability of the ICT services and their importance for care; the potential to promote
independence and to increase feeling of safety. In three of regions, except in the region of
Frederikshavn, the trial participants were split in intervention and control groups.
Significant results from the pilot operation were achieved even though the roll out of the
pilots was more complicated than initially anticipated. There were a number of challenges to
be addressed during the real-life pilot operation; some of those were not dependent on the
consortium. The partners worked together and in many cases they were resolving technical
issues in non-working hours/days based on good will and because of the eagerness to
achieve a high impact. The whole process has been a positive learning experience for all of
them.
The fact that most of the test users and their relatives are satisfied, feel safer and confident
with ISISEMD services, is a significant result that is not measurable. Even somehow
sceptical in the beginning, after giving them time to get used to the services, the elderly and
their relatives accept the technology and can see the opportunities for positive impact. The
relatives can better feel the difference by using the services in comparison with the elderly,
because due to the disease, it is difficult for the elderly to think abstractly and understand it.
6. Outcome from technical evaluations - non-functional aspects
Technical evaluation was carried out to determine whether the system requirements were
fulfilled by testing the services after the components of the system have been integrated into
one system. The system evaluation had two aspects:
Functional evaluation
and
Non-functional
evaluation
. The purpose of the
functional
tests were to evaluate all the functions that were
enabled with the ISISEMD system. The
non-functional
evaluation included aspects such as
e.g. scalability, reliability, flexibility. Non-functional requirements were validated based on
qualitative and quantitative appropriate measures. More details about the overall
assessment framework are presented in (Mitseva, 2010). In the next paragraphs we focus on
the non-service specific evaluations which assess the readiness of the system for wider
deployment.
