School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
CSA Group, Toronto, ON, Canada.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Jun 22;8(6):e15923. doi: 10.2196/15923.
A primary concern for governments and health care systems is the rapid growth of the aging population. To provide a better quality of life for the elderly, researchers have explored the use of wearables, sensors, actuators, and mobile health technologies. The term AAL can be referred to as active assisted living or ambient assisted living, with both sometimes used interchangeably. AAL technologies describes systems designed to improve the quality of life, aid in independence, and create healthier lifestyles for those who need assistance at any stage of their lives.
The aim of this study was to understand the standards and policy guidelines that companies use in the creation of AAL technologies and to highlight the gap between available technologies, standards, and policies and what should be available for use.
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 from interviews were coded using a thematic analysis and then presented in two workshops about standards, policies, and governance to identify future steps and opportunities regarding AAL.
Our study showed 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 nontechnical issues and integration between existing technologies present the most significant issue. A total of 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.
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 in detail.
政府和医疗保健系统主要关注人口老龄化的快速增长。为了提高老年人的生活质量，研究人员探索了可穿戴设备、传感器、执行器和移动健康技术的应用。AAL 可被视为主动辅助生活或环境辅助生活，这两个术语有时可以互换使用。AAL 技术是指旨在提高生活质量、帮助独立生活和为那些在生活的任何阶段需要帮助的人创造更健康生活方式的系统。
本研究旨在了解公司在创建 AAL 技术时使用的标准和政策指南，并强调可用技术、标准和政策与实际可用之间的差距。
进行了文献综述，以确定与 AAL 相关的关键标准和框架。在加拿大各地与 15 位不同的利益相关者进行了访谈，以补充这一审查。访谈结果使用主题分析进行编码，然后在关于标准、政策和治理的两个研讨会上展示，以确定 AAL 未来的步骤和机会。
我们的研究表明，创建 AAL 技术所需的基础技术、标准和政策不是造成现有技术和可访问技术之间差距的主要问题；相反，非技术问题和现有技术之间的集成是最大的问题。共确定了五个主题进行进一步分析：（1）最终用户和目的；（2）可访问性；（3）互操作性；（4）数据共享；（5）隐私和安全。
互操作性是 AAL 技术相关数据共享的未来面临的最大挑战。此外，大多数利益相关者认为隐私和安全是 AAL 范围内数据共享的主要关注点。需要进一步研究来详细探讨每个已确定的差距。
