AAL Programme - SAVE Project Proposal

Template for proposal description (Part B, Call 2018)

Application areas addressed: Health&Care, Safety&Security, Information&Communication

Proposal full title: SAfety of elderly people and Vicinity Ensuring

Proposal acronym: SAVE

Name of the project coordinator: Sorin-Aurel Moraru – Transilvania University of Brasov

Contact details of the coordinator: B-dul Eroilor nr. 29, 500036 Brasov – Romania

Envisaged starting date: 01/09/2019

List of participants

Table of Contents

• Cover Page - 1
• Section 1: Relevance and scope - 5
  • 1.1 Example scenario - 5
  • 1.2 Essence and uniqueness of the project - 5
  • 1.3 Comparative Advantage / Innovation - 8
• Section 2: Implementation - 10
  • 2.1. Involvement of end-users (all levels) - 10
  • 2.2 Business development plan - 12
  • 2.3 Technology, standards and interoperability - 12
  • 2.4 Project organisation, consortium composition and quality, work plan - 15
  • 2.5 Resources required for successful implementation - 19
  • 2.6 Risk assessment and management plan - 19
• Section 3: Impact - 26
  • 3.1. Impact on end-users - 26
  • 3.2 Impact on market development - 27

Executive Summary

Section 1: Relevance and scope

Overview of “SAVE” (SAfety of elderly people and Vicinity Ensuring) project:

Fig. 1: SAVE – the technological context

1.1 Example scenario

Armand is a 67 years old man. Armand feels often lonely and spends much time at home watching TV. He started gaining some weight, and suffers from high blood pressure and prostatic hypertrophy. One day, he participates in the “Technology Club” within the social assistance service of the municipality, next to other two friends. Mihai is 69 years old and suffers from mild dementia and Beatrice, 66 years old, is suffering from a physical disability. They were engaged in a training course, held by the SAVE project team: they were shown how to use simple technology devices (e.g. wearable bracelets) to assess their fitness, how to make their home activities more safe (e.g. prevention of house fire), how to use intelligent furniture for safety (e.g. avoid falling) how to keep in touch with fellow groups and with local social and health authorities (e.g. with smartphones and tablets). At the course, they were given a few devices sponsored by the municipality (e.g. sensors kits), in order to test them at their home and while walking. At this course they all started also to learn how to use the location systems that will help them to come back safely at their home. During these sessions, supervised by the volunteers, they also completed behaviour questionnaires (personalised, for safety and ethical reasons). Then, Armand, Mihai and Beatrice installed the SAVE demo app on their smartphone and registered for SAVE services. Through the “To Do” section of the app, they will be also notified about next activities, synchronised in the “Personal cloud” of their relatives, friends and formal caregivers. In this group Armand also designated some “reference persons” (namely, Beatrice and his son Charlie) who may be informed in case of troubles and may provide further information if needed. One day, Armand was going to the market and suddenly didn’t remind where is he living, where is his house. He invoked the SAVE system that noticed Armand is 2.5 km from home. He pushed the safety button and the application started to show him the road back to his house. Arriving at home, he realised that he is very tired and fell while trying to start the heating in the house. The app “Ping” interactive capability, suspecting another problem, prompted Armand with some signals – “emoticons”. Armand managed to push the Emergency button and the system alerted automatically the authorities (including the localisation info), asking for help. After this experience and talking with the doctors and his friends he realised that his physical condition is very low (with problems of balance, of legs or hands coordination). He decided to apply for the full SAVE service suite and smartphone apps, enrolling also to start physical exercises for improving well being – either at the club or at home, with the support from volunteering organisations.

1.2 Essence and uniqueness of the project

The essential of our proposal is “restoring the referential” – the unique goal of “orientation” is approached not only as location but also as “to do” shared goals, ensuring the “safety of the vicinity” (considered, in the title of our project, in a closer sense – the room, the garden – than the neighbourhood).

The proposal goes beyond two past stereotypes – “elderly people can be better assisted only if hospitalized” and “elderly people dislike modern technologies” – and it does this for an extended range of “not-so-fit” persons.

The uniqueness of the project is “mediation” – leveraging on AAL services mediation capabilities both at interpersonal level (mediation between “physical and juridical persons”) and at the “middleware” level. The specific of SAVE is the aim to endorse volunteering – not only to disseminate its infrastructure, knowledge base and flexible services but with the promotion of social engagement and active participation: the volunteers may be elderly and/or disabled people themselves. Their “peer-to-peer” technology transfer (e.g. from more skilled elderly people to less skilled ones) would be also a “transfer of confidence” (in the evolving context of volunteering organizations). The other side of smart mediation role (in the integrative approach of SAVE) is the technological “middleware” (able to be integrated also by telecommunication service providers) – e.g. enhanced alerts treatment, pre-filtering “spam” (that could be generated by people with cognitive problems) from real SOS that should reach the official emergency lines that are already merged in many countries (medical, police, fire etc).

What is the rationale behind our proposal?

The rationale of SAVE is the re-orientation in a supportive environment for the end-user in terms of position – location (e.g. showing the way home or the way to the community centre closest to the actual position) and/or in terms of safety (e.g. in a sensor-equipped intelligent kitchen) but also in a broader cognitive and behavioural sense that is interpersonal and task-oriented. In such a general perspective, the role of the caregiver starts with the help for “re-integration” of those in need in their “personal cloud” (e.g. retrieving the… forgotten goals in the shared “to do” group objectives), enhancing safety (both of the person and of his/her vicinity). SAVE is aiming to living independently and safely for longer time at home (using a sensors kit for activity monitoring and safety assessment), and autonomously outside home (using locating systems for guidance back home or to the nearest point of support) with involvement in physical activities (a pro-active extension of the reorientation effort, monitored by wearable devices) with the goal of health improvement and social insertion/integration.

What end-user challenges (needs and wishes) are being targeted?

SAVE will best suit the elderly persons, suffering (or being at risk of) age-related chronic illnesses (such as hypertension, heart diseases or diabetes), mild or moderate cognitive issues/disabilities (such as exhibiting BPSD – Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia, depression etc).

The SAVE project is addressing the challenge to improve end-users capacity for:

• Living an active and meaningful life (social participation and well-being).
• Living independently and safely for longer time at home (decision and control of daily activities) with support from their caregivers and community when necessary.
• Involve in different types of physical activity that brings them the feeling of own safety and utility for that day.
• Being independently and safely outside their home, due to LBS (via GPS / GIS).
• Keeping permanent contact with the caregivers and/or friends – by smartphones or tablets.
• Fostering healthy and active lifestyle pervasiveness through “peer to peer” and social-based approach
• Empowering more persons in need to participate in volunteering activities, as a key to active social inclusion.

Which stakeholders are integrated and in which way?

As the SAVE solutions are expected to sustain or improve the capacity of the above-mentioned primary users – elderly and/or people with mild dementia and/or with disabilities/or or other impairments – they will be involved the following organizations (secondary and tertiary users):

• Municipalities and social services departments
• Companies for elderly people care
• Social & medical insurance services
• Companies for supporting the app-s development
• Volunteering organizations for improving life style and well being
• Organisations offering physical education programs for elderly
• Medical centres and general practitioners (GP)
• Distribution partners for the SAVE products

What are our target groups for the final product?

The market segmentation for the SAVE products is the following:

• Primary target groups – end-users (elderly and/or with mild dementia and/or with disabilities) and caregivers (at the family and volunteering level)
• Secondary target groups – companies (solution providers and dealers)
• Tertiary target groups – social / municipal organizations and community centres (caregivers at institutional level)

How will the proposal lead to an innovative, effective and coherent solution?

The SAVE proposal has a two-fold approach:

• integration of technology-based monitoring solutions into a flexible services package (personalized on specific and evolving user needs and wishes) with an innovative business model at the participative management level.
• supporting exploitation and market penetration by engaging end-users and volunteering organizations in a “peer to peer” diffusion model, fostering end-user trust and providing an intermediate “buffer” level between end-users themselves and providers of care and technology.

1.3 Comparative Advantage / Innovation

Comparative advantage of our proposed solution over existing solutions

SAVE aims to contribute to the future of “Emergency calls” based on evolved location-based services – the advantage of the proposed solution over the existing ones is the use of LISP – Location (from) Identity Separation Protocol, in order to assist people at “both sides of the line”, as detailed above.

Another advantage is the Cloud-based communication approach, a secure web-service blend of RESTful (REpresentational State Transfer) APIs (Application Program Interfaces), Web RTC (Real Time Communications) and IoT (Internet of Things) compliant with the integrated charging/billing of tomorrow for human and machine communications.

Most important innovative aspects of our project

The SAVE main purpose actually consists of integrating different solutions into a unique and accessible framework, supporting and innovating the activity of volunteering/ non-profit organizations already in the field.

The SAVE framework is largely built on existing sensing technology: we shall use both off-the-shelf, commercial devices (clinical sensors, fitness trackers) and devices already developed and thoroughly tested in previous AAL-JP projects (home devices and services, with the TRL mentioned in section 2.3).

1.4 Key Performance Indicators

Section 2: Implementation

2.1. Involvement of end-users (all levels)

The SAVE project aims at moulding its services upon a profound knowledge of actual needs and related opportunity areas. To this respect, the involvement of end-user and stakeholders is a key resource, and will be exploited according to the following guidelines.

Primary end-users are 65+ elderly persons possibly suffering from mild dementia and/or with disabilities, whereas secondary end-users mostly include formal and informal caregivers (family and volunteering).

Targeted Primary End-users and inclusion criteria:

The primary end-user:

• is more than 65 years old (both genders in similar proportions);
• does not suffer from major chronic diseases or severe disabilities;
• may suffer from mild-moderate medical conditions/disabilities or other impairments;
• lives alone at home (or with non self-sufficient relatives);
• retains sufficient mobility (moving and maintaining body positions, handling and moving objects, moving around in the environment, moving around using transportation);
• is within the local Social Care services scope;
• receives occasional care from relatives or professional caregivers;
• have at home a smart phone and internet access.
• is able to:
  • manage tasks and demands
  • learn and apply knowledge;
  • manage self-care tasks and daily living activities;
  • establish and manage interpersonal relationships;
  • engage in community, social, and civic life.

Secondary End-users are formal and informal caregivers. The SAVE project particularly stresses the involvement of volunteering elderly persons (either participating in a volunteering organization or through the SAVE project itself).

Phase1: Co Design Session

End-user app through rapid prototyping and test the prototypes via use case scenarios and questionnaires: Quality of Life Inventory; General Activities of Daily living scale and Mini Mental State Examination; Dementia-Specific quality of life instruments for persons.

Phase2: Co-Creation Session

It will be exploited to bridge cultural differences among partners and stakeholder, this providing a common understanding and allowing to share the service specifications. Gain insights into elderly’s current concerns/issues in relation to living independent, as well as of the care professional.

• Identify needs and expectations of elderly regarding smart technology and monitoring lifestyle.
• Identify expectations of elderly regarding features and characteristics of home smart sensors and intelligent furniture
• Identify expectations of elderly regarding characteristics of GPS app and his contributions.
• Identify expectation of elderly about physical activity programs.
• Validate with care professionals the concept of a home smart sensor connected with an app.

2.2 Business development plan

Research and development

The professional caregivers NIMR, UnitBv and INRCA will also represent end-user interests during the testing and evaluation process. UnitBv, ISS and VS will initiate partnerships with hardware manufacturers during research and development.

Testing and evaluation

The professional caregivers NIMR, UnitBv+DSA and INRCA will provide initial access to potential end-users of the primary target group of elderly people with, and without, mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Business model development

EVA, IKONTENT, Labidee and VS will negotiate with hardware manufacturers to set up a supply chain management.

EVA, IKONTENT, Labdee and VS will negotiate with local tradespersons to set up a list of local providers and also invite them to join the training and distribution network SAVE-TDN.

Market introduction

EVA, IKONTENT, INRCA and VS will plan a kick-off event for the start of the training and distribution network SAVE-TDN.

Product distribution

EVA, IKONTENT, Labidee and VS will involve local hardware distributors, the SAVE-TDN, local tradespersons and of course postal services and logistics companies for distribution and installation.

After-sale support

EVA, IKONTENT, INRCA and VS will inform and train the SAVE-TDN, which will be the first level support for SAVE solutions. UnitBv, ISS and VS will set up a suitable second and third level support.

2.3 Technology, standards and interoperability

As stated in Section 1, the main goal of SAVE is to integrate different technology-based monitoring solutions into a comprehensive and flexible platform to ensure inherent openness and interoperability, built around a cloud infrastructure, with different functional modules connected, in a standardized fashion.

Sensing technologies

This includes a wide spectrum of devices (physical as well as virtual) the aim of which is to provide data about the end-user and his activity.

Clinical sensors, suitable for home use and user self-management. Physiological parameters such as heartbeat rate, blood pressure, blood sugar concentration, blood oxygen concentration may enter the picture, depending on the specific user health and needs.

Home sensors and intelligent devices. Over the years, many kinds of home monitoring systems have been reported featuring different AAL-oriented objectives. Such systems exploit a number of different sensors to track features of daily living activities.

Wearable devices, aimed at introducing into the general picture information about user’s health status, physical activity, location etc. This will come either from sensors embedded in a smartphone, or by further dedicated and commercial devices.

Data Analytics

This section accounts for converting raw data coming from sensing technologies above into understandable information, to be casted, depending on the intended audience, in meaningful and accessible formats.

User interaction devices, allowing primary and secondary End-user to effectively interact with the SAVE system, and to get a rewarding and motivating experience from this.

Standards and Interoperability

Communication protocols to be considered in developing the system architecture must comply to energy, security and range requirements. The SAVE infrastructural view is inherently based on most diffused standards and on mainstream technologies.

2.4 Project organisation, consortium composition and quality, work plan

Project organisation

SAVE is an elaborate project from several point of view such as the various fields of expertise covered, different type of institutions from different EU countries involved, a high variety of regulations to meet, parallel fulfilment of both Programme and country specific expectations, etc., requiring tailored project management approach.

The Project Management Board

The overall management structure will consist of the Project Management Board (PMB) as the ultimate decision-making body of the partnership. Each member of the partnership will delegate one representative and one deputy.

The project coordinator

The Project Coordinator (PC) is responsible for the general administrative, financial and legal management of the project, as well as for the communication between the consortium and the Programme.

Partner Information

Partner 1 – UNITBV, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania

UNITBV is a state university having more than 23000 students at full-time programs at license, master and doctorate level. The University will do the general coordination of the project.

Partner 2 – VS, Vision Systems, Brasov, Romania

VS is a software company based in Brasov, Romania. Vision Systems will lead WP3, testing and validation.

Partner 3 – ISS, The Institute of Space Science, Bucharest, Romania

Institute of Space Science (ISS) is a Research and Development Institute based in Măgurele, Romania. ISS will ensure the Systems Engineering (SE) user centered methodology.

Partner 4 – IKONTENT, Ikontent Digital Europe KFT., Budapest, Hungary

IKONTENT is a digital agency with developing value increased digital services as main focus. IKONTENT will lead WP4 Business Exploitation.

Partner 5 – EVA, EVA Vision R&D LLC, Budapest, Hungary

EVA Vision Research and Development LLC is a private founded for-profit SME based in Budapest, Hungary. EVA will contribute to WP4 Business Exploitation.

Partner 6 – NIMR, Országos Orvosi Rehabilitációs Intézet, Budapest, Hungary

The National Institute for Medical Rehabilitation (NIMR) is the leading rehabilitation institute in Hungary. NIMR will contribute to WP3 Test and validation.

Partner 7 – Labidee, Laboratorio delle Idee, Fabriano AN, Italy

Company has a large experiences in international projects. The activities of Labidee will be technical coordination of project services.

Partner 8 – INRCA, IRCCS-INRCA, Ancona, Italy

INRCA is the Italian leading public Institute in gerontology and geriatrics. Within the SAVE project, INRCA will organize and orchestrate the Italian pilot.

2.5 Resources required for successful implementation

Resources needed to implement the SAVE envisioned system include a widespread range of interdisciplinary competences to be harmonised into a convergent and stakeholder- participated design scheme.

2.6 Risk assessment and management plan

Possible risks can be classified into the following categories:

Section 3: Impact

3.1. Impact on end-users

3.1.1 Improving Quality of Life for primary and secondary end-users

As of the statutory declaration of objectives in AAL programme, main improvement in quality of life may come from “extending the time people can live in their preferred environment, by increasing their autonomy, self-confidence and mobility”.

Main benefits relates to the quality of life therefore include:

• Concerning the end-user’s quality of life: (i) being supported in leading an active life, according to his residual skills; (ii) preserving some autonomy space and times, while being constantly monitored for his own safety; (iii) taking advantage of a responsive and adaptive care strategy; (iv) a “peer-to-peer” technology transfer mechanism.

• Concerning the informal caregiver’s quality of life: (i) Increased peace of mind, thanks to safety and monitoring functions; (ii) feeling supported in the care provision and in related decisions; (iii) recovering a more rewarding relationship with the beloved caretaker; (iv) involvement in physical activity programs.

• Concerning the formal caregiver: (i) availing himself of more insights about the end-users lifestyle and habits; (ii) getting a closer link with informal caregivers; (iii) organising at best his workday; (iv) easing collaboration with colleague caregivers.

3.1.2 Effect on service models

SAVE service aims at integrating smoothly and effectively within the care framework. The “prosthetic” step (referring to the caregiver as the “prosthesis”) is based on three main pillars:

• Intelligent environment, which should grant total freedom of movement and complete accessibility/usability as well as safe environment
• Physical activities, giving a proper meaning to the end-user day and improve his/her physical activity and wellbeing.
• Caregivers, which should be able to understand the disease as a complex of cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms.

3.1.3 Social and ethical impact

Opposite to the usual cliché of ICT technology dehumanizing the care relationship, the SAVE project aims at exploiting such technology to improve the human relation between the caregiver and the caretaker.

Main ethical issues arise about the need of acquiring, storing and managing sensitive data: from the technical point of view, state of-the-art technologies will be exploited to ensure full control of data ownership and security.

3.1.4 Opt-out, exit strategies and drop-out management

The SAVE services need to be properly framed in the general care strategy, as a supporting tool and they are not intended to introduce any critical change in the life habits of the primary end-user.

Physical devices included in the SAVE home kit will remain the property of the end user, unless the user asks for having them removed by the pilot team.

3.2 Impact on market development

3.2.1 Business components

Product/Solution

The SAVE system is an incorporated solution that main goal is to support end-users in staying in their familiar surroundings for as long as possible, while still be safe and optimally cared for.

Target Group & Market

In the European Union about 10 million elderly suffer from mild cognitive impairment (MCI), these people and their next of kin require adequate support during daily activities.

The target market for these technical innovation are: (i) elderly people, age-related chronic illness, people with mild dementia or with disability, and other impairments, (ii) informal caregivers, like family members; (iii) formal caregivers, social-care organisations, nursing homes and volunteer organisations.

Business model

A Business Model will be developed to describe how the product service will create, deliver and capture the value of the innovation and will consider the market, economic, social, and other contextual factors across Europe.

The preliminary title for this goals are the SAVE infrastructure system and the SAVE training and distribution network.

3.2.2 Sharing of project knowledge – dissemination

SAVE dissemination strategy will make use of different communication and dissemination means, implementing actions toward several target groups: scientific community, policy makers, public authorities, industrial interest groups working on dementia-related ICT solutions, as well as media and public at large.

3.2.3 Intellectual Property Rights management (IPR) and other legal issues

Ownership and existing and new intellectual property rights will be defined in the consortium agreement. Licensing agreements are foreseen to allow for the integration of technologies into the joint system that are protected by IPR or forming the background knowledge of some of the partners.

This document represents the proposal description for the SAVE (SAfety of elderly people and Vicinity Ensuring) project under the AAL Programme Call 2018.