Multi-modal functional health assessment and intervention for individuals experiencing cognitive decline

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PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT The world's population is aging and the increasing number of older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) is a challenge our society must address. While the future of healthcare availability and quality of services seems uncertain, at the same time advances in pervasive computing and intelligent embedded systems provides innovative strategies to meet these needs. One particular need which technology can help address is assessment and assistance with a person's functional performance. The long-term goal of this work is to develop technologies that will improve the independent functioning and quality of life of individuals with functional limitations (particularly individuals with ADRDs) and reduce their reliance on caregivers. The primary objective of this application is to develop a multi-modal sensor-based approach to automate functional health assessment and assistance with everyday activities. Building on our prior collaborative work, our approach will be to collect and fuse multi-modal functional performance data from ambient sensors, mobile sensors, free text, and assessment apps (Aim 1). This fused “human behaviorome” will provide a basis, together with observation-based ground truth, for automated functional assessment and validation of each component technology, including the use of compensatory strategies, through in-person observation and through video recording of typical daily activities and strategies (Aim 2). Finally, using iterative, user-centered assessment of prompt-based assistance, we will evaluate the ability of activity segmentation and forecasting techniques to provide automated support for activity initiation and accurate completion of everyday activities (Aim 3). The proposed contributions are significant because they will provide insights on functional health revealed within a person's everyday environment that have not been investigated in prior work. The results can also help to extend functional independence through real-time assistance, while the outcomes can assist family planning, provision of care, and design of real-world and lab-based measures of functional performance. This work is important because of the increasing number of older individuals experiencing cognitive and functional limitations due to chronic health conditions. Furthermore, they address the need for individuals to remain functionally independent as long as possible in their own homes, thereby improving quality of life and reducing health care costs.