Milla Immonen

Gait analysis and estimation of changes in fall risk factors

Falls are a major problem for older adults. A continuous gait monitoring that provides fall risk assessment would allow timely interventions aiming for preventing falls. The objective of this work was to find out whether gait variables calculated from the acceleration signal measured during walk task in the baseline assessment can predict changes in commonly used fall risk assessment scales after 12 months follow-up. Forty two subjects were measured during walk test with a triaxial acceleration sensor worn on a waist belt at the lower back near the centre of mass. The fall risk was assessed using a test protocol, which included several assessment methods. Gait analysis was able to predict a decline in ABC, BBS and GDS total scores and slower time in STS-5 after twelve-months follow-up. A subsequent study is needed to confirm the models suitability for data recorded in everyday lives.

Disease state fingerprint for fall risk assessment.

Fall prevention is an important and complex multifactorial challenge, since one third of people over 65 years old fall at least once every year. A novel application of Disease State Fingerprint (DSF) algorithm is presented for holistic visualization of fall risk factors and identifying persons with falls history or decreased level of physical functioning based on fall risk assessment data. The algorithm is tested with data from 42 older adults, that went through a comprehensive fall risk assessment. Within the study population the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale score, Berg Balance Scale (BBS) score and the number of drugs in use were the three most relevant variables, that differed between the fallers and non-fallers. This study showed that the DSF visualization is beneficial in inspection of an individuals significant fall risk factors, since people have problems in different areas and one single assessment scale is not enough to expose all the people at risk.

Focus Group Evaluation of Scenarios for Fall Risk Assessment and Fall Prevention in Two Countries

Information and communication technologies (ICT) provide means for developing new tools for preventing falls. To enhance adherence to fall prevention interventions, end users need to be engaged from the early phases of the development process. This paper reports the focus group evaluation of five scenarios related to fall risk assessment and fall prevention. There were four focus groups with older adults in both Finland and Spain; 58 participants in all. The most interesting features for the interviewees were usage of intelligent gym equipment, the possibility of peer support and multi-factorial fall risk assessment. The scenario with intelligent gym equipment rose above the others among Finnish participants, while the scenarios were ranked more evenly by Spanish correspondents. The analysis showed that a personal history of falls and a connection to current habits and routines affected the reception of the proposed solutions.

Using Technology for Improving the Social and Physical Activity-Level of the Older Adults

Social media and internet technologies are regularly used by young and adult population. Older adults are using social media rarely, even though these technologies have the potential to ease and enrich their lives. This article discusses different possibilities for the use of technologies to enrich the lives of older adults by activating them socially and physically. Technology can also support the maintenance of close relationships with relatives and care givers and ease their workload.

Perceived loneliness among home-dwelling older adults with and without memory disorder: A population-based study

The aim of this population-based cross-sectional study was to describe and compare the prevalence and features of perceived loneliness among home-dwelling older adults with (n = 129) and without (n = 244) memory disorder. The latter group was randomly resampled from 789 respondents stratified by age to obtain a standardized control group. Loneliness was assessed using the six-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and perceived stress using Cohen, Kamarck and Mermelstein’s 10-item Perceived Stress Scale. Results show that severe loneliness was common among the home-dwelling older adults, especially those with memory disorder, who also perceived stress more frequently than those without memory disorder. Both groups, but again more frequently those with memory disorder, were more likely to be emotionally than socially lonely. Thus, when planning social and healthcare services and interventions to mitigate loneliness among older adults living at home, memory problems and emotional loneliness require particular consideration.

Development and user feedback of home technology for preventing falls in older adults

Falls in older adults are an increasing problem in western societies as the population ages. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the development process and user feedback of fall prevention exercise software designed for home-dwelling older adults. The developed system was given to 14 older adults for testing at home and testing lasted for up to 16 months. In addition, ten older adults and four health care professionals participated in a feasibility evaluation. Feedback about usability and usefulness are described in the paper. In general, the received feedback was more positive than negative both from the older and professional end users. The requirements for the system to be personalized and tailored according to user profile and needs, and real-time performance monitoring are emphasized in the results.

Motivational strategy for a cognitive endurance mHealth application

Dementia has become a prevalent problem with our aging population. Dementia is threat to our independence because our independence relies on our cognitive performance. Cognitive performance declines as the years advance but it can and should be nurtured to keep it at sufficient functional level. Even though mobile technology has potential to be the desired low-cost and effective means to healthy living, it requires the driving force, motivation, to actually get the person to the destination. In this paper we present a motivational strategy for mHealth (mobile health) application for cognitive endurance.

Empowering and integrating senior citizens with virtual coaching

With Europes aging population and an increasing number of older people living alone or geographically distant from kin, loneliness is turning into a prevalent issue. This might involve deleterious consequences for both the older person and society, such as depression and increased use of healthcare services. Virtual coaches that act as friend in a para-social relationship but also as mentor that helps the elderly end- user to create meaningful relationships in his actual social environment are a powerful method to overcome loneliness and increase the quality of life in the elderly population.The AAL Joint Programme projects A2E2 (AAL-2008-1-071) and V2me (AAL-2009-2-107) are exploring virtual coaches and their application in AAL scenarios, including the use of user avatars, virtual self-representations that allow the user to be represented in communication scenarios. Other European research projects that focus on social integration of the elderly are e.g. ALICE (AAL-2009-2-091) or WeCare (AAL-2009-2-026). Outside the European Union the negative implications of population aging can be observed in Japan, having an even larger proportion of senior citizens, using individual-centred devices, such as robot pets,1 to improve the quality of life of lonely elderly persons. The user groups involved often are not acquainted with modern ICT systems and therefore it is a challenge to create intuitive, adaptive platforms that cater to the individual needs and allow the user to interact easily.