JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Dementia is a syndrome characterized by a wide spectrum of symptoms and needs. There is no cure for this syndrome that represents a major challenge to society in terms of quality of life for those affected, and in terms of workload and stress burden for those who take care of them. The HAAL project aims to improve quality of life of both people with dementia and their formal and informal caregivers, by providing a personalized set of devices to the person with dementia, along with a dashboard designed for carers to monitor and manage the older person. The HAAL eco-system consists of a dashboard which integrates, aggregates, and analyses heterogeneous data gathered from different devices designed for and tested with people with dementia. The study is designed as a technical feasibility pilot to test the HAAL eco-system in three countries: Italy, the Netherlands, and Taiwan. The primary interest is to assess the impact of the HAAL platform on caregivers’ workload and end users’ quality of life, that will be measured through ZARIT, GAD-7 and EQ-5D scales. Then, the field trials also focus on the usability of the HAAL ecosystem, evaluated through the SUS scale. The HAAL field trial, is an innovative feasibility study focused on the impact of a complex technological ecosystem designed for people with dementia and their caregivers. The HAAL eco-system aims to relief stress at work for formal and informal caregivers, to improvein the perceived quality of life for informal caregivers and person with dementia, and to reduce the care load for the formal caregivers.