Using home monitoring technology to study the effects of traumatic brain injury in older multimorbid adults.

Internet of things (IOT) based in-home monitoring systems can passively collect high temporal resolution data in the community, offering valuable insight into the impact of health conditions on patients' day-to-day lives. We used this technology to monitor activity and sleep patterns in older adults recently discharged after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The demographics of TBI are changing, and it is now a leading cause of hospitalisation in older adults. However, research in this population is minimal. We present three cases, showcasing the potential of in-home monitoring systems in understanding and managing early recovery in older adults following TBI.

The effect of COVID-19 on the home behaviours of people affected by dementia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the behaviour of most of the world's population, particularly affecting the elderly, including people living with dementia (PLwD). Here we use remote home monitoring technology deployed into 31 homes of PLwD living in the UK to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on behaviour within the home, including social isolation. The home activity was monitored continuously using unobtrusive sensors for 498 days from 1 December 2019 to 12 April 2021. This period included six distinct pandemic phases with differing public health measures, including three periods of home 'lockdown'. Linear mixed-effects modelling is used to examine changes in the home activity of PLwD who lived alone or with others. An algorithm is developed to quantify time spent outside the home. Increased home activity is observed from very early in the pandemic, with a significant decrease in the time spent outside produced by the first lockdown. The study demonstrates the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on home behaviours in PLwD and shows how unobtrusive home monitoring can be used to track behaviours relevant to social isolation.

Smart Home Sensing and Monitoring in Households With Dementia: User-Centered Design Approach.

BACKGROUND: As life expectancy grows, so do the challenges of caring for an aging population. Older adults, including people with dementia, want to live independently and feel in control of their lives for as long as possible. Assistive technologies powered by artificial intelligence and internet of things devices are being proposed to provide living environments that support the users' safety, psychological, and medical needs through remote monitoring and interventions. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the functional, psychosocial, and environmental needs of people living with dementia, their caregivers, clinicians, and health and social care service providers toward the design and implementation of smart home systems. METHODS: We used an iterative user-centered design approach comprising 9 substudies. First, semistructured interviews (9 people with dementia, 9 caregivers, and 10 academic and clinical staff) and workshops (35 pairs of people with dementia and caregivers, and 12 health and social care clinicians) were conducted to define the needs of people with dementia, home caregivers, and professional stakeholders in both daily activities and technology-specific interactions. Then, the spectrum of needs identified was represented via patient-caregiver personas and discussed with stakeholders in a workshop (14 occupational therapists; 4 National Health Service pathway directors; and 6 researchers in occupational therapy, neuropsychiatry, and engineering) and 2 focus groups with managers of health care services (n=8), eliciting opportunities for innovative care technologies and public health strategies. Finally, these design opportunities were discussed in semistructured interviews with participants of a smart home trial involving environmental sensors, physiological measurement devices, smartwatches, and tablet-based chatbots and cognitive assessment puzzles (10 caregivers and 2 people with dementia). A thematic analysis revealed factors that motivate household members to use these technologies. RESULTS: Outcomes of these activities include a qualitative and quantitative analysis of patient, caregiver, and clinician needs and the identification of challenges and opportunities for the design and implementation of remote monitoring systems in public health pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Participatory design methods supported the triangulation of stakeholder perspectives to aid the development of more patient-centered interventions and their translation to clinical practice and public health strategy. We discuss the implications and limitations of our findings, the value and the applicability of our methodology, and directions for future research.