How ACTIVAGE is contributing to the Covid-19 crisis management?

DS ISÈRE
1- How the services already deployed in the ISÈRE DS are helping the older population to manage the pandemic?

At the Isère DS, two main services were particularly helpful in the the COVID-19 context:

1. The conferencing tool e-lio developed by the DS Isère

is currently being deployed largely by the Isère county to insure an appropriate contact between the elderly people in long-term care houses.

e-lio is a conferencing tool very easy to use for the elderly on his television from his room. The tool offers also to keep the social link to the family with diaries including picture share.

This is even more important in the current situation in France where lockdown has been established. The social distancing can have bad effect on the elderly’s mood and overall health condition.

This tool was deployed in 18 long-term car houses for elderly around the Isère county.

For almost a year a newsletter has been sent monthly to the elderly participants (n=50, panel 1) by the ACTIVAGE team. March newsletter was about how to use E-Lio and, more generally, about free and open apps and websites allowing communication with relatives.

https://www.isere.fr/actualites/le-departement-deploie-e-lio-un-dispositif-de-visioconference-dans-les-ehpad

2. The ACTIVAGE services include a personalized coaching

carried out by nurses. Through regular phone calls, nurses identify needs and encourage behavioural change. This service is optional, all participants did not wish to benefit from it. Nevertheless, all participants were systematically called at the start of the Covid-19 crisis in order to prevent social isolation and emotional distress.

The ACTIVAGE project is benefitting from IsèreADOM resources led by the County Council of Isère called “CD38” (local government, public body). IsèreADOM organises and delivers a set of medical and social services for health and autonomy at home including a mapping of local activities and services. CD38 is currently identifying initiatives specifically developed by municipalities to meet the urgent needs of the frail population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The citizens can consult this information through a web portal or by calling a free-phone number.

For the caregivers (panel 2 only):

Information provided by ACTIVAGE sensors allow to identify changes in older people daily patterns during the lockdown, thus detecting potential risky situations requiring the adaptation of care.

Caregivers can report their observations in a digital notebook shared with the person, their relatives and the others caregivers. It could be a powerful mean of coordination.

2- How the current solutions can be scaled up for contributing to the outbreak management?

OBJECTIVE

For solution 1:

  • Keeping the important social link between elderly and their family.
  • Insuring better health condition
  • Facilitating the acceptance of the social distanciation imposed by the lockdown in France

For solution 2:

  • Pushing information about local services dedicated to frail population (for example: home delivery of food or medication, support hotline…)

TARGET GROUPS

For solution 1:

  • Older people in long-term care houses
  • Relatives and families
  • Care service providers that have an easy-to-use tool for their patients.

For solution 2:

Elderly – specifically those who are living alone and in rural areas with a few local services.

TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRED

For solution 1:

There are special requirements, apart from the devices and architecture already deployed, to run the solutions specifically form.

The long-term care homes need a specific visio-box that is provided by the project. The end-users (elderly) only need a television to run the visio conference.

Relatives need to install an app on their smartphones.

HOW TO RUN THE SOLUTION

Solution 1:

The e-Lio tool was already in place in a few long-term care houses. Additional ones will receive soon their visio-box to deploy the system in their premises.

Solution 2:

It was necessary to publish the information about local initiatives on the elderly’ tablets. That implies two conditions:

Develop a solution to analyse home sensors data in order to understand the elderly’s behaviour and infer their needs.

Develop a solution to access, select and sent personalised information in data bases. By “personalised” we mean at least adapted to the needs and the living place. IsèreADOM could be a relevant database.

3- Benefits for users
  • Preventing social isolation
  • Facilitating the acceptance of the social distanciation imposed by the lockdown in France
  • Insuring better health condition
  • Identifying risky situation or failure to thrive sindrome (french concept “syndrôme de glissement”)

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