AssistAble: Sustainable Smart Home for Healthy Independent Ageing

COVID-19导致NHS大规模中断，常规护理延误加剧，成本增加，改善可持续性的努力出现逆转。老年人受到的影响尤为严重，社会孤立加剧，行动能力下降，导致身心功能下降，可能永远无法恢复，弱势群体和少数群体获得医疗保健的障碍也在增加。迫切需要进行数字化转型，以应对与COVID-19相关的挑战，同时在人口迅速老龄化的情况下保持现有的护理标准。独立生活提高了生活满意度和幸福感，同时减少了NHS和社会护理的压力，这是英国政府的优先事项，目标是到2035年再独立生活5年。医疗保健的可持续性和碳减排是政府清洁增长战略的关键部分；由于NHS是公共部门碳排放的最大贡献者，因此可以通过改善/增加远程医疗保健的采用来实现大幅减少碳排放。虚弱是导致丧失独立性的关键因素，65岁以上的老年人中有10%受到影响，85岁以上的老年人中有50%受到影响，少数民族群体的患病率有所上升。虚弱可以通过测量步行速度和从坐着站起来所需的时间来准确评估，但这些通常不会在繁忙的诊所测量，诊断往往基于主观的临床意见。步行速度降低与跌倒、住院、住养老院和早逝的风险增加直接相关。适当的早期干预可以减少和扭转虚弱，增加无残疾生命年。AssistAble利用了机器学习/人工智能的最新进展，可以使用简单的网络摄像头准确评估身体运动，提供行走速度、不稳定性以及从坐着站起来所需时间的信息和趋势分析。这些信息将用于通过与医生、护士、社会护理专业人员和亲属分享产出来准确地对虚弱进行分级并改善临床护理，这些人可以采取行动阻止或减少虚弱，对急性疾病进行早期预警，改进护理规划，并减少跌倒的频率。愿景是引领老年人的智能远程医疗，促进健康的独立生活和公平的医疗服务，同时通过实现远程老年人护理和减少可避免的住院，减少GP/医院运输和临床建筑占用的NHS碳足迹。

COVID-19 has led to wide-scale disruption in the NHS, worsening delays in routine care, increasing costs and reversing efforts to improve sustainability. The elderly have been disproportionately affected, with increased social isolation and reduced mobility, leading to reductions in mental and physical function that may never be recovered, with barriers to healthcare access increasing for vulnerable and minority groups. Digital transformation is urgently needed to meet COVID-19 related challenges, whilst maintaining current care standards in the face of a rapidly ageing population. Independent living improves life satisfaction and happiness whilst reducing pressures on the NHS and social care, and is a UK Government priority targeting 5 extra years of independent living by 2035\. Sustainability and carbon reduction in healthcare is a key part of the Government's Clean Growth Strategy; with the NHS being the largest contributor of public sector carbon emissions, significant reductions can be achieved by improving/increasing uptake of remote healthcare.Frailty is the key condition leading to loss of independence, affecting 10% of people aged over 65 years and 50% of those over 85 years old, with increased prevalence in ethnic minority groups. Frailty can be accurately assessed by measuring walking speed and the time it takes to stand up from sitting, but these are not typically measured in a busy clinic and diagnosis is often based on subjective clinical opinion. Reduced walking speed directly relates to increased risk of falls, hospital admission, nursing home residence and early death. Appropriate early interventions can reduce and reverse frailty and increase disability-free life years.AssistAble exploits recent advances in machine-learning/AI enabling accurate assessment of body movement using a simple webcam, giving information and trend analysis of walking speed, instability, and the time it takes to stand up from sitting. This information will be used to accurately grade frailty and improve clinical care by sharing outputs with doctors, nurses, social care professionals and relatives, who can act to halt or reduce frailty, have early warning of acute illnesses, improve care planning, and reduce the frequency of falls.The vision is to lead smart telecare for seniors, promoting healthy independent living and equitable healthcare access, whilst decreasing NHS carbon footprint from GP/hospital transport and clinical building occupancy by enabling remote elderly care and reducing avoidable hospital admissions.