Smart Home Technologien für ältere Menschen: Bedarf und Potential, um ein selbstbestimmtes Leben im eigenen Zuhause zu unterstützen

Abstract

Background: Due to demographic changes in the German population, the proportion of older people in the society are increasing. There are two main reason for this change, 1) the increase in life expectancy and 2) the decline in birth rates within the society. Given that, people at an older age tend to have higher risks of falling ill the need for health care is rising. Therefore, it has become increasingly important, and necessary required to provide more facilities within the homes of the elderly so that they can continue to live a somewhat normal life. At a vulnerable age, this is what most of them wish for. Smart Home Solutions can offer a solution to this social issue. The purpose of this paper is to try and find out what kind of technologies are already available and if they are/can be successfully used. The success of this work heavily relies on finding out what is required for the elderly to live a safe and an independent life within the comfort of their own homes. Method: This Thesis is using a systematic literature search to find answers in databases such as PubMed and Science direct. The main criteria will be to look up for literature which may be a maximum of ten years and include older people. After reading the headlines and then the abstracts the studies will be included in the table, if chosen relevant. Results: The results show that the most widely used Smart Home Solutions are ambient and wearable Sensors, but also communication and other forms of supporting Technologies. The most common use for these Systems is for the detection of Falls by elderly. In addition, these are also used to collect biometric data of older people in order to provide medical observation and to react in an emergency. Discussion: It turns out that the main concerns about Smart Home Systems are the energy efficiency of portable devices, compliance with privacy and data protection, the complexity of the Technologies and the measurement qualities of falls, for example. There is also research gap for information’s about the actual needs of older people and about their use of the intelligent Solutions after their implementation in their homes. Conclusion: Therefore, further research is needed and should be supported by Smart home developers, not to only make their products more attractive, but also to offer more targeted support for their users.