Development of a smart post-hospitalization facility for older people by using domotics, robotics, and automated tele-monitoring

Abstract

Recent studies showed that about the 8% of beds are occupied by patients who experience a delayed hospital discharge (DHD). This is attributed to a delay in the arrangement of home-care assistance or in admission to long-term care facilities. Recently a lot of technologies have been developed to improve caring and monitoring of older people. The aim of this study is to design, implement and test a prototype of a technology based post-hospitalization facility for older people at risk of DHD by using domotics, robotics and wearable sensors for tele-monitoring. A sensorised posthospitalization facility has been built inside the hospital. Thirty-five healthy volunteers aged from 20 to 82 years were recruited. Clinical and functional assessment, i.e. motility index (MI), and human-robot interaction satisfaction were measured. A significant correlation was observed between automatic MI and the Gait Speed, the time sit-to-stand, and the Timed Up and Go test. Domotics, robotics and technology-based telemonitoring may represent a new way to assess patient’s autonomy and functional and clinical conditions in an ecological way, reproducing as much as possible a real life at home.

The PRO‐HOME Project. A multicomponent intervention for the protected discharge from the hospital of multimorbid and polytreated older individuals by using innovative technologies: A pilot study

“…The PRO-HOME framework is based on a deep literature review, particularly considering previous experiences. 10,34 The model is innovative due to: To the best of our knowledge this integrated approach is a unicum so far, while in literature there are several findings related to low-cost technology deployment in smart home for elderly, 10,34 none of them consider a deeper understanding of participants' frailty, the architectural components, the self-care, and activities that can be carried out in the same protected environment. Nevertheless, basing the technological ecosystem on low-cost and commercial technologies allow the PRO-HOME model to be easily translated and disseminated in real practice.…”

“…The main significance of this project is to develop and validate an innovative health‐care model able to promote appropriate and tailored interventions to multimorbid and polytreated older participants who are at risk of inappropriate or unnecessary prolonged hospital stay and to guarantee a favourable cost‐effective ratio for the older participants and the National Health System. The PRO‐HOME framework is based on a deep literature review, particularly considering previous experiences 10,34 …”

“…In this new context, the role of gerontechnology, that is home automation and robotics, might be promising. Previous data of our group suggested the feasibility and usefulness of a smart posthospitalization facility for older people by using domotics, robotics and automated telemonitoring for a continuous assessment of frailty in hospitalized older people 9,10 . The novelty of the present study is to implement a tech‐focused setting that can facilitate hospital discharge to minimize unnecessary and potentially harmful prolonged length of stay (LOS) through CGA‐focused interventions that incorporate gerontechnology principles.…”

“…Previous data of our group suggested the feasibility and usefulness of a smart posthospitalization facility for older people by using domotics, robotics and automated telemonitoring for a continuous assessment of frailty in hospitalized older people. 9,10 The novelty of the present study is to implement a tech-focused setting that can facilitate hospital discharge to minimize unnecessary and potentially harmful prolonged length of stay (LOS) through CGA-focused interventions that incorporate gerontechnology principles. This approach could change practice, challenge stigma around how older adults interact with new technologies and support CGA-focused intervention strategies in the transitional care.…”