Luc de Witte, AAATE Workshop 2016, Helsinki

2. What does technology offer for
elderly care? Possibilities
and challenges
Luc de Witte
Maastricht University
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

3. Outline
• The challenge in care for the elderly
• The potential of technology
• Problems with technology
• The challenge for us (as innovators/researchers)
• Our attempt to contribute: Care Valley Heerlen
– examples / building blocks for a comprehensive
approach

4. The challenge in elderly care
• Growing numbers of elderly, most healthy but many
with chronic diseases and disabilities
• Less money available and more focus on self reliance:
selfmanagement first, professional care last
• Elderly people, also those who are institutionalised
today, will stay in their own home environment much
longer, with informal care and professionals ‘at a
distance’
• As a result institutional care is reserved for the worst
• Technology offers great potential and will play an
increasing role in care

5. The challenge in elderly care
• How to provide high quality care for elderly with
increasingly complex problems with less people and less
money?
 Innovation is a MUST
 Technology offers great potential

6. The potential of technology
• Domotics: comfort, active alarm systems
• Social media: community portals, informal networks
• Remote care: Care-TV, monitoring, remote diagnostics,
remote coaching and therapy, e-Health applications for
self management
• Intelligent, autonomous monitoring and alarm systems
• Robotics
• A long list of ‘wearables’ for self monitoring and
measurement
• ….

7. Problems with technology
• Very fragmented development
• Often not well linked to real problems and needs
• Only very limited availability
• Very often limited usability
• Very little ‘evidence’ of effectiveness
• Often poorly embedded in health care practice:
technology alone is nothing; it must me be part of care
approach
• Still many privacy and other ethical issues
• …

8. So…., this is a serious risk

9. But this is also possible …..

10. Or this …..

11. The challenge for us
• To develop innovative care models that:
– fit into the needs and ambitions of elderly people
– make optimal use of available technology with
proven added value
– disregard technology without added value, with poor
quality of limited usability
– are comprehensive and modular (flexible,
compatible, integrated)
– are affordable
• To develop technology for such models
• To evaluate and implement these models

12. Most important problems
• Mobility
• ADL- support
• Loneliness
• Incontinence
• Memory problems
• Communication
• Safety issues
• …..

13. An attempt to contribute:
carevalley Heerlen
• Collaboration of municipality, care organisations, Zuyd
university of Applied Sciences, educational
organisations, SME’s
• Adoption of three communities in Heerlen
• Co-creation with older inhabitants; care organisations
are ‘listeners’
• Together with students, SME’s, care organisations, banks
and other stakeholders we develop solutions on the
basis of what eldely people tell us

14. A graded approach
Robots
Monitoring
systems-
telecare
Information and advice
Community platform - portal
Informal
care
Munici-
pality
hospital
nursing
home

15. The basis: a community portal

16. The platform– contacts

17. The platform – contacts

18. Second level: information and
‘handy’ products

19. •

20. Third level: lifestyle monitoring
Monitoring of changes in activities in the home
situation

21. Third level: exergames

22. Fourth level: robotics

23. Fourth level: robots as companion

24. Care-o-bot 3

25. A comprehensive ‘package’
Community portals
Selfmonitoring
Assistive technology
Remote care
Exergames
Robotics

26. Closing remarks
• The need for innovation is great
• Technology offers many possibilities to improve
care and to support elderly people in their daily
life
• But: development of such technologies should
be guided by a clear vision and be embedded in
a care model
• Co-creation with end-users is a must
• Doing this is great fun