JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Over the recent years, interest in the development of smart health technologies aimed to support independent living for older population has been increased. The integration of innovative technologies such as internet of things, wearable technologies, artificial intelligence and ambient assisted living applications represents a valuable solution for this scope. Designing such an integrated system requires addressing several aspects (e.g. equipment selection, data management, analytics, costs, and users’ needs) and involving different areas of expertise (e.g. medical science, biomedical and computer engineering, service design, etc.).

Objective:

The objective of the present study was twofold: a) to design the functionalities of a Smart Health platform addressing five chronic conditions prevalent in the older population (i.e. hearing loss, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive impairments, mental health problems and balance disorders) by taking into account both older adults’ and clinicians’ perspectives; b) to evaluate the identified Smart Health platform functionalities with a small group of older adults.

Methods:

24 older adults (over 65 years old) and 118 clinicians were interviewed through focus group activities and online questionnaires to elicit the Smart Health platform requirements. Considering the elicited requirements, the main functionalities of the Smart Health platform have been designed. Then, a focus group involving 6 older adults has been conducted to evaluate the proposed solution in terms of usefulness (U), credibility (C), desirability (D) and learnability (L).

Results:

Eight main functionalities were identified and assessed: cognitive training and hearing training (U: 100%, C: 100%, D: 100%, L: 100%), monitoring of physiological parameters (U: 100%, C 100%, D: 100%, L: 83%), physical training (U: 100%, C: 100%, D: 83%, L: 33%), psychoeducational intervention (U: 100%, C: 100%, D: 67%, L: 33%), mood monitoring (U: 67%, C: 67%, D: 50%, L: 50%), diet plan (U: 83%, C: 67%, D: 17%, L: 33%), and environment monitoring and adjustment (U: 17%, C: 17%, D: 0%, L: 0%). The majority of them were highly appreciated by senior participants, with the only exception of environment monitoring and adjustment. The results showed that the proposed functionalities meet the needs and the expectations of users (e.g. improved self-management of patient’s disease and enhanced patient’s safety). However, some aspects need to be addressed (e.g. technical and privacy issues).

Conclusions:

The presented Smart Health platform functionalities seem to be able to meet older adults’ needs and desires to enhance self-awareness and self-management of their medical condition, to encourage healthy, active, and independent living, and to provide evidence-based support for clinicians’ decision making. Further research with a larger and more heterogeneous pool of stakeholders in terms of demographics and clinical conditions is needed to assess the system acceptability and the overall user experience in free-living conditions.