Effectiveness of an Ambient Assisted Living (HomeAssist) Platform for Supporting Aging in Place of Older Adults With Frailty: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study

BackgroundAmbient assisted living (AAL) technologies are viewed as a promising way to prolong aging in place, particularly when they are designed as closely as possible to the needs of the end users. However, very few evidence-based results have been provided to support its r...

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Main Authors: Hélène Sauzéon, Arlette Edjolo, Hélène Amieva, Charles Consel, Karine Pérès
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2022-10-01
Series:JMIR Research Protocols
Online Access:https://www.researchprotocols.org/2022/10/e33351
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author Hélène Sauzéon
Arlette Edjolo
Hélène Amieva
Charles Consel
Karine Pérès
author_facet Hélène Sauzéon
Arlette Edjolo
Hélène Amieva
Charles Consel
Karine Pérès
author_sort Hélène Sauzéon
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundAmbient assisted living (AAL) technologies are viewed as a promising way to prolong aging in place, particularly when they are designed as closely as possible to the needs of the end users. However, very few evidence-based results have been provided to support its real value, notably for frail older adults who have a high risk of autonomy loss as well as entering a nursing home. ObjectiveWe hypothesized that the benefit from an AAL with a user-centered design is effective for aging in place for frail older adults in terms of everyday functioning (instrumental activities of daily-life scale). In addition, our secondary hypotheses are that such an AAL decreases or neutralizes the frailty process and reduces the rates of institutionalization and hospitalization and that it improves the psychosocial health of participants and their caregivers when compared with the control condition. We also assume that a large proportion of equipped participants will have a satisfactory experience and will accept a subscription to an internet connection to prolong their participation. MethodsHomeAssist (HA) is an AAL platform offering a large set of apps for 3 main age-related need domains (activities of daily-living, safety, and social participation), relying on a basic set of entities (sensors, actuators, tablets, etc). The HA intervention involves monitoring based on assistive services to support activities related to independent living at home. The study design is quasi-experimental with a duration of 12 months, optionally extensible to 24 months. Follow-up assessments occurred at 0, 12, and 24 months. The primary outcome measures are related to everyday functioning. Secondary outcome measures include indices of frailty, cognitive functioning, and psychosocial health of the participants and their caregivers. Every 6 months, user experience and attitudes toward HA are also collected from equipped participants. Concomitantly, data on HA use will be collected. All measures of the study will be tested based on an intention-to-treat approach using a 2-tailed level of significance set at α=.05, concerning our primary and secondary efficacy outcomes. ResultsDescriptive analyses were conducted to characterize the recruited equipped participants compared with the others (excluded and refusals) on the data available at the eligibility visit, to describe the characteristics of the recruited sample at baseline, as well as those of the dropouts. Finally, recruitment at 12 months included equipped participants (n=73), matched with control participants (n=474, from pre-existing cohorts). The results of this study will be disseminated through scientific publications and conferences. This will provide a solid basis for the creation of a start-up to market the technology. ConclusionsThis trial will inform the real-life efficacy of HA in prolonging aging in place for frail older adults and yield an informed analysis of AAL use and adoption in frail older individuals. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/33351
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spelling doaj.art-221f9e39727a44909d32ba536a3e8fba2023-08-28T23:19:22ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Research Protocols1929-07482022-10-011110e3335110.2196/33351Effectiveness of an Ambient Assisted Living (HomeAssist) Platform for Supporting Aging in Place of Older Adults With Frailty: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental StudyHélène Sauzéonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5781-9891Arlette Edjolohttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3405-0826Hélène Amievahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0119-7242Charles Conselhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8851-9357Karine Pérèshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0720-0684 BackgroundAmbient assisted living (AAL) technologies are viewed as a promising way to prolong aging in place, particularly when they are designed as closely as possible to the needs of the end users. However, very few evidence-based results have been provided to support its real value, notably for frail older adults who have a high risk of autonomy loss as well as entering a nursing home. ObjectiveWe hypothesized that the benefit from an AAL with a user-centered design is effective for aging in place for frail older adults in terms of everyday functioning (instrumental activities of daily-life scale). In addition, our secondary hypotheses are that such an AAL decreases or neutralizes the frailty process and reduces the rates of institutionalization and hospitalization and that it improves the psychosocial health of participants and their caregivers when compared with the control condition. We also assume that a large proportion of equipped participants will have a satisfactory experience and will accept a subscription to an internet connection to prolong their participation. MethodsHomeAssist (HA) is an AAL platform offering a large set of apps for 3 main age-related need domains (activities of daily-living, safety, and social participation), relying on a basic set of entities (sensors, actuators, tablets, etc). The HA intervention involves monitoring based on assistive services to support activities related to independent living at home. The study design is quasi-experimental with a duration of 12 months, optionally extensible to 24 months. Follow-up assessments occurred at 0, 12, and 24 months. The primary outcome measures are related to everyday functioning. Secondary outcome measures include indices of frailty, cognitive functioning, and psychosocial health of the participants and their caregivers. Every 6 months, user experience and attitudes toward HA are also collected from equipped participants. Concomitantly, data on HA use will be collected. All measures of the study will be tested based on an intention-to-treat approach using a 2-tailed level of significance set at α=.05, concerning our primary and secondary efficacy outcomes. ResultsDescriptive analyses were conducted to characterize the recruited equipped participants compared with the others (excluded and refusals) on the data available at the eligibility visit, to describe the characteristics of the recruited sample at baseline, as well as those of the dropouts. Finally, recruitment at 12 months included equipped participants (n=73), matched with control participants (n=474, from pre-existing cohorts). The results of this study will be disseminated through scientific publications and conferences. This will provide a solid basis for the creation of a start-up to market the technology. ConclusionsThis trial will inform the real-life efficacy of HA in prolonging aging in place for frail older adults and yield an informed analysis of AAL use and adoption in frail older individuals. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/33351https://www.researchprotocols.org/2022/10/e33351
spellingShingle Hélène Sauzéon
Arlette Edjolo
Hélène Amieva
Charles Consel
Karine Pérès
Effectiveness of an Ambient Assisted Living (HomeAssist) Platform for Supporting Aging in Place of Older Adults With Frailty: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study
JMIR Research Protocols
title Effectiveness of an Ambient Assisted Living (HomeAssist) Platform for Supporting Aging in Place of Older Adults With Frailty: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study
title_full Effectiveness of an Ambient Assisted Living (HomeAssist) Platform for Supporting Aging in Place of Older Adults With Frailty: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study
title_fullStr Effectiveness of an Ambient Assisted Living (HomeAssist) Platform for Supporting Aging in Place of Older Adults With Frailty: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study
title_full_unstemmed Effectiveness of an Ambient Assisted Living (HomeAssist) Platform for Supporting Aging in Place of Older Adults With Frailty: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study
title_short Effectiveness of an Ambient Assisted Living (HomeAssist) Platform for Supporting Aging in Place of Older Adults With Frailty: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study
title_sort effectiveness of an ambient assisted living homeassist platform for supporting aging in place of older adults with frailty protocol for a quasi experimental study
url https://www.researchprotocols.org/2022/10/e33351
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