General description ICT4Life is a three-year project funded under Horizon 2020 , the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation , with the ambition of providing new services for integrated care employing user-friendly ICT tools , thereby ultimately increasing patients ’ quality of life and autonomy at home . To reach this goal , ICT4Life is conducting breakthrough research and radical innovation and will implement the ICT4Life platform . Such a platform will deliver a series of innovative services to patients affected by Parkinson ’ s , Alzheimer ’ s and other dementias and also to health professionals and formal and informal care-givers . All solutions are developed following a user-centred methodology and tested in real-life scenarios .
This initiative brings together nine partners representing academia , industry and end-user groups , all committed to improving patients ’ lives and advancing Europe ’ s leadership role in personalised services for integrated care .
The partners of this well-balanced and multidisciplinary consortium are :
• Artica Telemedicina ( Spain ), which leads the project ;
• Polytechnic University of Madrid ( Spain );
• Madrid Parkinson ’ s Association ( Spain );
• Netis Informatics Ltd ( Hungary );
• E-seniors ( France );
• CERTH – Centre for Research and Technology
Hellas ( Greece );
• Maastricht University ( Netherlands );
• HOPE – The European Hospital and Healthcare Federation ( Belgium );
European health systems are moving away from the ‘ treat and cure of acute conditions ’ culture to face the challenges of an ageing demographic
9 HHE 2018 | hospitalhealthcare . com
• University of Pécs ( Hungary ).
The motivation behind ICT4Life comes from the need to find solutions aimed at developing the concepts of self-care , active patients and integrated care . To reach this goal , ICT4Life is developing , through technological , medical and social research , a radically new approach to integrated care that is being materialised in the ICT4Life platform .
People with Parkinson ’ s , Alzheimer ’ s and other dementias strive for independence , although they face major difficulties in their daily lives , especially in taking care of themselves . Caregivers also need to be supported in their daily care routines . As the impairment increases , families need to dedicate increased time and mental and physical efforts to their relatives . Health professionals require tools ensuring a better coordination of care which , in turn , guarantee more efficient decision-making processes regarding therapies .
This situation poses a challenge for public authorities , policy makers and businesses , especially as it comes at a time of increasing pressure on public budgets and growing demands from older people for care products and services . If this demographic transition is not tackled head-on , it will raise considerable concerns for the sustainability of health systems .
The ICT4Life platform represents a solution to face the abovementioned challenge . The ICT4Life objective implements an innovative platform that connects patients , families , care-givers and health professionals through user-friendly tools , using results on emerging technologies . The platform is aimed at facilitating patient empowerment , supporting care-givers and establishing cooperation channels within professionals for integrated care .
The ICT4Life platform is based on the use of available sensors , which collect information about the health status of the patient while monitoring his / her movement and evolution of symptoms . Through the platform it is possible to infer if a patient is disoriented , confused , spends too much time immobile or tries to leave the house . Moreover , sensors detect emergency situations such as falls , freezing and festination to alert care-givers and professionals to the need for immediate care . Additionally , there is an evaluation of therapy-related exercises for the patient through these sensors . To sum up , the ICT4Life platform :
• monitors patients in real-time to alarm and call for early intervention ;
• prevents risk of falls , social isolation , depression , poor well-being and inadequate
medication management ;
• promotes patients ’ independence , safety and social involvement ;
• provides timely support to care-givers , helping them to feel less stressed ;
• enables information exchange among health professionals for a better coordination of care .
The approach The ICT4Life approach is based on the involvement of end-users ’ in the development of the technology . For this reason , end-users ’ organisations have participated in the co-creation process since the beginning . This started with the analysis of requirements and functional design