We talk to Dr. Elisabeth Bourkel of the DAPAS (Deploying AAL Packages at Scale) project, which is creating an innovative solution based on the best outputs from previous projects aimed at supporting older adults. The DAPAS system can transform the way older people manage their lives, stay in contact with family and keep to routines, driving a sense of well-being and independence.
Empowering the older generation with technology There have been several AAL (Active & Assisted Living) projects funded by the EU’s AAL programme, all focused on the goal to improve daily routines and to assist people, particularly who fall into the 65+ age bracket. The aim is to create market-ready products and services that the older generation can and will use to support their independence. This is an important area of research for Europe because, taking into account higher life expectancy and lower birth rates, over half of the EU’s total population is estimated to be over 65 by 2070. We need to adapt healthcare infrastructure and policies to address the needs of older people, to better meet the challenges posed by demographic change.
Taking the best bits A challenge of the often awkward pairing of the older generations and new technology is that the chosen technology must be useable and genuinely helpful. The ideas have to be attractive, intuitive and beneficial enough
www.euresearcher.com
for widespread adoption and market success. However clever an application is, if there is no take up, if it does not fundamentally appeal to the end-user, then it will fail. This is where the DAPAS project comes in, which is taking a broad look at existing studies, the outcomes of previous projects and the latest technologies – analysing them and handpicking the best ideas for the next step in innovation. To reach a stage where you can comfortably scale this kind of technology, you need to get it right on all counts for the end-user.
“A lot of projects have been done in this funding scheme and unfortunately their products often don’t come to market. So, an idea of this project was to integrate several successful solutions from different previous projects that could be distributed on a larger scale,” explains Bourkel. “In the DAPAS project the technical solution has three versions of an android app designed for a tablet, with a cloud backend, smart hardware components and a voice assistant. There is the starter version, the value version and the premium version. The end users are important partners in our research and the development of the app. After the participants use each version, we always collect feedback on what they think about it and give it directly to the organisations’ developing these solutions. They try to integrate what they learn from the feedback as soon as they can, to make the system more useable. That is one of the ideas of this project.”
59
