Electronic Spatial Assistance for People with Dementia: Choosing the Right Device

The demographic change and ageing in Europe will lead to a growing number of people suffering from dementia. Consequently, costs for public health will increase because people become more and more reliant on care and gradually lose their independence and mobility. In the case of dementia, remedial m...

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Main Authors: Cornelia Schneider, Stefan Henneberger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2014-06-01
Series:Technologies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/2/2/96
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author Cornelia Schneider
Stefan Henneberger
author_facet Cornelia Schneider
Stefan Henneberger
author_sort Cornelia Schneider
collection DOAJ
description The demographic change and ageing in Europe will lead to a growing number of people suffering from dementia. Consequently, costs for public health will increase because people become more and more reliant on care and gradually lose their independence and mobility. In the case of dementia, remedial measures could be provided by assistive technology to support independent living at home for as long as possible. Current assistance systems are often limited to actively raising an alert (i.e., electronic panic buttons) or location tracking. Due to this small range of functions these systems are poorly accepted by the target group. Thus, this paper reports on a selection process for a spatial data collection device allowing the development of a new so-called mobility safeguarding assistance system for people with dementia which combines features of different systems. In particular, the wearability as an everyday object is a key issue when it comes to identifying an adequate gadget for elderly people. The proposed methodology considers user requirements as well as technical requirements when it comes to finding a suitable device. Based on these requirements, several different devices were reviewed and tested in order to find most suitable potential device as part of the selection process. The device selected shows that the proposed process on how to choose the right device performed well.
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spelling doaj.art-fa256054dc26414c924bd8dff434f3182022-12-22T01:04:38ZengMDPI AGTechnologies2227-70802014-06-01229611410.3390/technologies2020096technologies2020096Electronic Spatial Assistance for People with Dementia: Choosing the Right DeviceCornelia Schneider0Stefan Henneberger1Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Jakob-Haringer-Straße 5/3, Salzburg 5020, AustriaSalzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Jakob-Haringer-Straße 5/3, Salzburg 5020, AustriaThe demographic change and ageing in Europe will lead to a growing number of people suffering from dementia. Consequently, costs for public health will increase because people become more and more reliant on care and gradually lose their independence and mobility. In the case of dementia, remedial measures could be provided by assistive technology to support independent living at home for as long as possible. Current assistance systems are often limited to actively raising an alert (i.e., electronic panic buttons) or location tracking. Due to this small range of functions these systems are poorly accepted by the target group. Thus, this paper reports on a selection process for a spatial data collection device allowing the development of a new so-called mobility safeguarding assistance system for people with dementia which combines features of different systems. In particular, the wearability as an everyday object is a key issue when it comes to identifying an adequate gadget for elderly people. The proposed methodology considers user requirements as well as technical requirements when it comes to finding a suitable device. Based on these requirements, several different devices were reviewed and tested in order to find most suitable potential device as part of the selection process. The device selected shows that the proposed process on how to choose the right device performed well.http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/2/2/96mobility safeguarding assistance systemdevice selectionhardware selectionGPS logger selectionambient assisted livingspatial data collection device selection
spellingShingle Cornelia Schneider
Stefan Henneberger
Electronic Spatial Assistance for People with Dementia: Choosing the Right Device
Technologies
mobility safeguarding assistance system
device selection
hardware selection
GPS logger selection
ambient assisted living
spatial data collection device selection
title Electronic Spatial Assistance for People with Dementia: Choosing the Right Device
title_full Electronic Spatial Assistance for People with Dementia: Choosing the Right Device
title_fullStr Electronic Spatial Assistance for People with Dementia: Choosing the Right Device
title_full_unstemmed Electronic Spatial Assistance for People with Dementia: Choosing the Right Device
title_short Electronic Spatial Assistance for People with Dementia: Choosing the Right Device
title_sort electronic spatial assistance for people with dementia choosing the right device
topic mobility safeguarding assistance system
device selection
hardware selection
GPS logger selection
ambient assisted living
spatial data collection device selection
url http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/2/2/96
work_keys_str_mv AT corneliaschneider electronicspatialassistanceforpeoplewithdementiachoosingtherightdevice
AT stefanhenneberger electronicspatialassistanceforpeoplewithdementiachoosingtherightdevice