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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - REMIND (The use of computational techniques to Improve compliance to reminders within smartenvironments)

Teaser

Summary

The aim of REMIND is to create an International and Intersectoral staff exchange network to progress developments in reminding technologies for persons with dementia. The focus of REMIND is to develop staff and beneficiary/partner skills in the areas of user centered design and behavioral science coupled with improved computational techniques which in turn will offer more appropriate and effective reminding solutions. Industrial staff will benefit from bi-lateral exchanges from the technical domains of context aware reminding technologies, soft computing, intelligent systems, pervasive computing and the psychological domain of behaviour change. The academic beneficiaries will benefit from gaining experience in the development of industrial standard software conforming to ISO and medical standards, engagement with stakeholders through a user centred design process and working with organisations delivering care to the elderly and persons with dementia.

People with mild dementia generally exhibit impairments of memory, reasoning and thought. As a result, they require varying levels of support to complete everyday activities and to maintain a level of independence. Yet for many a live-in carer is neither practical nor affordable. It is evidenced, however, that the cost of dementia might be meaningfully reduced through improvements in care and support for these people and their carers, avoiding future admissions and better clinical management. That is where assistive technologies may provide an opportunity to alleviate the burden faced as a result of this disease. Specifically, the integration of reminding technologies within the everyday lives of people with dementia has been shown to be a popular approach. Reminders are a core component of many assistive technology systems and are aimed specifically at helping people with dementia function more independently by compensating for cognitive deficits.

It is envisioned that REMIND will greatly improve the overarching effectiveness of reminding technologies, leading to increased uptake and the creation of innovative products. The benefits to people with dementia will be increased independence and improvements in quality of life.

The Objectives of the Project are:
-to embed behavioral science into the process of reminding solutions
-to advance the state of the art in intelligent data analysis in support of improving reminding technologies
-to optimise of sensor network configurations within smart environments

Work performed

During the reporting period the Project has delivered a range of new approaches to activity recognition. Within the context of reminders for people with dementia understanding the users\' behaviour is a major component. Coupled with the delivery of these algorithms has been the use of thermal vision sensors for detecting and tracking users within smart environments. During the reporting period the intersect between health technologies and behavioural science has been explored. The embedding of behavioural science into reminding technologies offers the potential to launch next generation solutions which will offer improved utility and usability for its users. An overall architecture for a Project demonstrator has been produced and will assist in co-ordinating developments in the ensuing reporting period. Two existing solutions by beneficiaries within the consortium which provide scheduling solutions and sensing solutions for smart environments, have been progressed.

The Project has progressed its understanding and development of new smart environments. During the reporting period two new smart labs have been created at beneficiary sites to complement existing smart labs within the consortium. This provides a platform where; new sensing paradigms and data sharing have been possible. This has been exploited to the full extent whereby a data set collected by the consortium has been shared with the research community via an International Conference.

During the reporting period a number of multidisciplinary training events have been delivered as planned and have assisted the consortium to fully understand and embrace the multidisciplinary nature of the design, development and evaluation of reminding technologies. As part of this training, the consortium have delivered the Connected Health Summer School twice. This now has the potential to be a reference event within the community for training in Connected Health.

During the reporting period the consortium has produced 10 Project Deliverables in line with the program of work. The consortium has been prolific in their dissemination of the scientific results with publications in internationally peer reviewed journals and conferences. In addition, the Project has been guided in its developments through engagement with the Alzheimerâ€™s Society Ireland who have worked with the consortium to assist in understanding user needs and technology engagement issues.

Final results

During the reporting period the REMIND Project has progressed beyond the state of the art in reminder technologies in the following areas:
-Embedding behaviour change strategies into mobile based reminding solution, providing improved levels of independence for persons with dementia
-Enhanced activity recognition processes through the use of soft computing techniques.
-New sensing paradigms which have optimised the use of sensing technologies and their positioning within the environment.

Further innovation within the Project has been evidenced through the refinement of two existing products from the consortium. Through REMIND it has been possible for Karde to work with software developers/ designers to improve the usability of the MEMAS product and produce a new instance of the product offering. Swedish Adrenaline has identified the potential to support the development of a new sensor based platform offering Millimeter-Wave Radar for Remote Sensing of Vital Signs. This is based on the premise that assessment of respiration patterns such as respiration rate are widely used when performing the first examination of a personâ€™s health status. Health information provides additional context when assessing a personâ€™s overall behaviour within a smart environment.

During the next reporting period efforts will be made to progress further within the aforementioned areas. Plans have already been produced detailing the main components of a Project demonstrator. It is expected that the main result of the Project will be an end-to-end demonstrator of an innovative reminding solution.

In terms of the impact, progress has been made against the following areas:
-the project is working towards the development of reminding solutions for persons with dementia. This will result in a tangible technology based solutions which will meet the needs of the person with dementia and their carer, subsequently creating new market opportunities. In addition, companies within the Project will benefit through enhancement of their current product offerings as a result of their involvement with REMIND.
-the proposed solutions to be developed by REMIND have the potential to offer improved support to persons with dementia and their caregivers. This will offer a range of benefits relating to improved levels of independence improved levels of quality of life for the person with dementia and reduction of caregiver burden, all of which have been identified as key challenges associated with dementia.