Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Aug 19, 2019
Date Accepted: Feb 22, 2020
Policies, Guidelines, and Standards for Active Assisted Living (AAL) Data Exchange: An Overview
ABSTRACT
Background:
A significant concern for governments and healthcare systems is the rapid growth of the ageing population. To provide a better quality of life for the elderly, researchers have explored the use of wearables, sensors, actuators, and mobile health technology.
Objective:
To understand the standards and policy guidelines companies are using in the creation of Active Assisted Living (AAL) technologies and to highlight the gap between available technologies, standards and policies and what should be available for use.
Methods:
A literature review was conducted to identify critical standards and frameworks related to AAL. Interviews with 15 different stakeholders across Canada were carried out to complement this review. The results were then presented in two workshops about standards, policies, and governance to identify future steps and opportunities regarding AAL.
Results:
Our study shows that the base technology, standards, and policies necessary for the creation of AAL technology are not the primary problem causing disparity between existing and accessible technologies, instead non-technical issues and integration between existing technologies presents the most significant issue. Five themes have been identified for further analysis: (1) end-user and purpose; (2) accessibility; (3) interoperability; (4) data-sharing; and (5) privacy and security.
Conclusions:
Interoperability is currently the biggest challenge for the future of data sharing related to AAL technology. Additionally, the majority of stakeholders consider privacy and security to be the main concerns related to data sharing in the AAL scope. Further research is necessary to explore each identified gap more fully.
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