Overview
ABSTRACT
Abstract : Assistance at home in SEPCAC (Surveillance, Education and Personalized Computer-Assisted Care) offers many useful applications for monitoring elderly people on their place of residence. This technology allows, among other things, the detection of a fall, a malaise or an pathologic episode requiring intervention, the monitoring of a stabilized state or a gradual entry into a pathology needing the observation of a certain number of symptoms.
After an inventory of the various existing sensors in SEPCAC and their virtual environments, this article questions the ethical scope of these technologies and offers a path for reflection on future advances.
AUTHORS
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Jacques DEMONGEOT : Faculty of Medicine, Joseph Fourier University (Grenoble, France)
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Mariem JELASSI : École Supérieure de Technologie et d'Informatique, Manouba University (Carthage, Tunisia)
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Carla TARAMASCO : Instituto Tecnológico para la Innovación en Salud y Bienestar, Universidad Andres Bello (Chile)
INTRODUCTION
Since 1995, e-health has been concerned with monitoring the elderly at home, using new information and communication technologies (NICTs): intelligent cameras, position sensors, fall detectors, radars for actimetry (see Note), i.e. monitoring movements in the home... The data recorded in this way is used to define a quantitative framework which, in the light of significant deviations from normal average behaviour, can be used to identify the onset of a pathology (e.g. degenerative, such as Alzheimer's disease) or the occurrence of an acute episode (respiratory illness, fall, etc.) requiring home intervention. The benefits of such alarms are twofold:
enable people to remain at home for as long as possible, for effective longevity in a familiar living environment;
argue for a return home, if behavior in a specialized institution (hospital, aftercare home, EHPAD (establishment for dependent elderly people), nursing home, etc.) detects no abnormal deviation.
The ultimate aim of e-health is to enable elderly people to live at home for as long as possible, while ensuring their safety, and thus postponing the need for them to be placed in specialized institutions. This relieves the burden on relatives, facilitates the work of caregivers and reduces the overall economic burden of the elderly. The disadvantages associated with the intrusive nature of certain e-health sensors, which artificial intelligence is striving to minimize, are amply outweighed by the improvement in quality of life and the preservation of the home and family environment, ensuring that the end of life is as dignified and serene as possible.
actimetry is a medical technology used to record motor symptoms, such as uncontrolled abnormal movements (dyskinesias), tremors and slowness. The system is available in the form of a connected watch, bracelet or sensor.
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KEYWORDS
optical sensors | Healthcare | surveillance | infrared sensors | sensors | assistance at home | therapeutic education | SEPCAC
EDITIONS
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Computer-assisted care, monitoring and therapeutic education at home
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