Smart Homes and Services design approach for AAL in Italy

Analyses of demographic trend in Italy indicate that in the near future elderly people will steadily increase. This phenomenon is affecting many other countries worldwide. According to the contingent rise of ageing population, there is an enhanced interest of politics and institutions to promote new forms of residences based on home care, as an alternative to retirement in assisted living facilities and an effective solution to reduce costs of social and health services. In this context smart technologies represent the most innovative and effective solutions to ensure ageing-in-place, able to improve the independence and autonomy of older adults not only in the home environment but also within the city context. The paper reports the results of an on-going research carried out by PDTA Department of Sapienza University, in collaboration with ENEA. The research has the main goal to elaborate a replicable and scalable home design model in order to increase the independence of elderly people or those with mild disabilities, starting from the analysis of their frailty in relation to the context. The aim is to identify a range of AAL products and smart services for the Ageing Society, in coherence with a repertoire of intelligent technologies currently on the market, already tested or in progress. The smart home model will be the basis for the development of an Ambient Assisted Living Platform, as an innovative interactive support tool.