Monitoring and supporting people that need assistance: the backhome experience

People that need assistance,as for instance elderly or disabled people,may be affected by a decline in daily functioning that usually involves the reduction and discontinuity in daily routines and a worsening in the overall quality of life. Thus,there is the need to intelligent systems able to monitor indoor and outdoor activities of users to detect emergencies,recognize activities,send notifications,and provide a summary of all the relevant information. In this chapter,we present a sensor-based telemonitoring system that addresses all that issues. Its goal is twofold: (i) helping and supporting people (e.g. elderly or disabled) at home; and (ii) giving a feedback to therapists,caregivers,and relatives about the evolution of the status,behavior and habits of each monitored user. The proposed system is part of the EU project BackHome and it is currently running in three end-user’s homes in Belfast. Our experience in applying the system to monitor and assist people with severe disabilities is illustrated.