Is Ambient Assisted Living the Panacea for Ageing Population?

The ageing population of Europe is a well-documented phenomenon and there is general agreement that it has serious implications for all European citizens as well as for policymakers and politicians. The current paradigm of caring for elderly citizens in residential homes is becoming untenable and it is also unpopular with many elderly people themselves. New ways of caring which engage and empower older adults more actively, and are also more cost-effective, must be found. The four-year DREAMING (elDeRly-friEndly Alarm handling and MonitorING) project carried out randomized controlled trials across six pilot sites to assess the impact of tele-monitoring on the health and quality of life of older people with chronic health conditions living at home. This book documents the results of the DREAMING project, which addressed one of the most important health and social care issues affecting older adults: namely, monitoring older people from a clinical point of view as a preventative measure to reduce exacerbations requiring intensive medical treatment, ensure their safety indoors and outdoors, and reduce their loneliness through eInclusion tools. This, in turn, improves the ability of care professionals to support these people, all in a cost effective way. The clinical results of the quality of life and economic impact assessments, together with the outcome of the user satisfaction survey are presented in the book, and lessons learned, as well as guidelines for the deployment of tele-monitoring are included. See more